The Master's Journey
by Mr. M.Mars
Summary: After being defeated in the Sinnoh Top Four, Ash receives an invitation to attend a new, exclusive Pokémon League reserved for only the best trainers in the world. However, he will not go on this journey alone, as an old friend has returned to join him on his new quest to become a Pokémon Master. (Side note: This disregards Black and White)
1. The Road Back Home

"_Quick! Descend and toss it off!" Tobias ordered his legendary Pokémon as he watched his Latios ascended hundreds of feet into the sky, Ash's Pikachu still hanging onto the creature's back. The semi-final match had raged on for what felt like an eternity for Ash. If it wasn't enough that Tobias' Darkrai had single handedly annihilated over half of his team, now he had almost finished off the rest of his team with a Latios. Pikachu, his beloved friend, and his last Pokémon still capable of fighting was now just barely hanging onto the legendary Pokémon's back as he ascended high into the air, far above the battlefield._

_However, Pikachu's grip on the jet shaped Pokémon was completely lost as the Latios dived down at a ninety degree angle, leaving Pikachu hovering in the air momentarily as the upward momentum the small electric rodent had picked up quickly diminished. _

"_Use luster purge, now!" Tobias ordered once more as his Latios quickly dove towards the battlefield. The second it reached the ground, the Pokémon quickly came to a stop, and shifted its direction towards the now falling Pikachu. A purple aura began to glow in Latios' mouth as it charged up the powerful blast._

_Seeing the imminent danger Pikachu was in, Ash had to act quick. "Pikachu, use volt tackle!" He called out, thinking on his feet. Without hesitation, Pikachu quickly zeroed in on Latios, and surrounded itself with a shield of electricity, projecting towards the blue and white dragon type Pokémon._

_Before Pikachu could reach him though, Latios fired its powerful luster purge directly at the falling mouse. The purple blast engulfed Pikachu completely, but Ash' loyal friend remained protected by the electric shield encircling him. Despite taking the blunt of the attack, Pikachu continued to charge towards the legendary Pokémon. _

"_Pika-Pika-Pika-Pika!" Pikachu shouted out as it charged closer and closer to Latios, fighting against the still ongoing blast. The attack had already begun losing power though, as Latios' stored energy quickly depleted. However, Pikachu was only gaining energy as the blast created friction against his electric shield. Though no one could see it, a slight look of concern stretched across Latios' face as Pikachu grew closer and closer._

"_Now! Use iron tail!" Ash screamed, once he saw Pikachu was close enough to use his signature attack. Heeding his master's command, Pikachu flipped forward, still surrounded by his shield, and smashed its tail against Latios' head._

_Due to the electrical charge coming from Pikachu, and the massive amount of energy coming from Latios, the two colliding with each other caused a massive explosion that filled the battlefield and erupted through the stadium, even causing the jumbo-tron to momentarily flicker. The smoke created by the explosion was so thick that neither Tobias nor Ash could see who the winner of the confrontation was. Ash squinted his eyes, trying to see through the smoke, resisting the urge to step closer to the battlefield to get a better look, knowing he'd be disqualified if he did so. As the smog of smoke and dust began to clear, the trainer could start to make out a silhouette of what looked like Latios laying on the battlefield. _

But where's Pikachu?

_As the smoke cleared out completely, Ash found is friend lying next to the fainted Latios. With just one look at Pkachu though, it didn't take long for him to realize that neither one of the Pokémon were going to be able to continue the battle._

"_Pikachu and Latios are both unable to battle." The referee announced upon seeing both Pokémon lying on the ground, completely unconscious. "All six of Ash's Pokémon have been eliminated," He continued. Ash suddenly felt a pang in his side from being brought back to this realization. "so moving onto the finals is Tobias, the victor!" The referee continued as he waved a red flag towards Tobias, who despite being the victor of the battle, was still locked in an expression of disbelief as he viewed the site that lay before him. Few had ever defeated his Darkrai before, and no one had ever been able to defeat his Latios. _

That is without a doubt the best trainer I've ever battled. _Tobias thought as he watched his name appear on the jumbo-tron as the winner._

_Meanwhile, across the field, Ash quickly ran to the side of his Pikachu, still feeling that same pain in his side from realizing that he had come so close to winning the Lily of the Valley Conference, just to lose here in the Top Four. Though he felt disappointed for not winning, he felt nothing but proud of his Pokémon who all fought to the very best of their abilities for the entire battle. _

"_Are you alright Pikachu?" He asked as he picked up his tired friend._

"Pika pi!"

Ash quickly shook his head as he came to sudden realization that this was not reality, or at least not anymore. He slowly opened his eyes as he felt Pikachu nuzzle against his cheek, calling out to him. "Pika pi." He said once more as Ash finally came to. He looked around to see he was still in the train car on its way to Pewter City with Brock and Pikachu.

_Where's Dawn?_ Ash thought as he looked around the car. It took him less than a second to remember that she had left for Johto after the Conference, while he and Brock decided to return home for a while after traveling for so long.

"Hey, about time you woke up." Brock said with a smile as Ash stretched out his arms, limbering up from his nap. "We're about five minutes from Pewter City." he added.

Ash let out a moan as he stretched, and held up one finger towards Brock, indicating he'd respond once he finished stretching.

"Oh really? How long was I out?"

"About four hours."

"Really? Feels like it was only a few minutes." Ash replied, a bit surprised by how long he'd been sleeping.

"What were you dreaming about?" Brock asked, curiosity filling his tone. Ash looked a bit taken back by the question.

"How did you know I was dreaming?"

"You were talking in your sleep." He answered.

Ash looked down at his feet. Ever since the Conference, he tried not to bring up the battle again. He was proud of himself and his Pokémon for making it that far, but losing, no, losing badly while being that close to the prize still left a dent in his ego.

"I was dreaming about that battle again."

Brock made a small frown after hearing how down Ash sounded about it. "You know, that was probably one of the best battles I've ever seen."

Ash looked up at Brock, his face remaining blank of any real emotion.

"Your Pokémon gave it their all, and you should be proud." Brock said as he placed a friendly hand on Ash' right shoulder.

"You're right Brock." a small grin stretched across the trainer's face. "We gave it our all out there, and I know that next time around, I'll be twice as good as I was before!"

"That's the spirit Ash!" Brock said with a smile as he took his hand of Ash's shoulder.

Ash turned his head away from Brock, and the frown returned. He just said that so Brock would drop the subject, he knew that he had done the best he could, and he still got stomped. Tobias took out his entire team with only two Pokémon, and in front of the thousands of people at the stadium, while millions viewed it at home.

_Well, at least I did better than the guy Tobias beat in the finals._ Ash thought, allowing him to crack a small grin in knowing that he was at least the second best trainer at the conference. He still had a sour taste in his mouth though. Shaking this off, he decided to suspend the subject from his mind.

"Hey Brock?"

Brock turned from the train car's window and faced his friend. "Yeah Ash?"

"We haven't talked about what we're going to do after this break." After saying this Ash could see a small frown cross his longtime traveling companion's face.

"Well," Brock started. "I have been thinking about that." Ash could already tell where this was going. "After the Lily of the Valley Conference, I realized that you and Dawn had been following your dreams, which is great for you guys." He paused. "But…"

"You don't think you're following your dreams by traveling with me." Ash finished Brock's sentence. This didn't come as a surprise to Ash. Brock had always talked about dreaming of becoming a Pokémon breeder, and even Ash had to admit that him traveling around the world wasn't exactly allowing him to truly explore his desired career. Brock had learned a lot about Pokémon and Pokémon breeding in the past six years, but there was no way he could truly dedicate himself to his lifelong dream by following around a would-be Pokémon Master all the time.

"Yeah." Brock replied simply.

"I understand."

"You do?" Brock seemed a bit bewildered by Ash's empathy.

He nodded, and then gave Brock a friendly smile. "Of course I do! This is what you want to do with your life, and I'd never want to keep you from aspiring to be a Pokémon breeder."

Brock remained silent for a second, still keeping his smile though. He was pleased to see how much Ash had matured in the past few years. He could still recall when Ash was still a little, outspoken ten year old who'd barge into a perfume shop just to tell the owners that perfume was icky and overpriced. Now here he was, encouraging Brock to leave so he could achieve his own dreams. He really had grown up.

"What about you?" Brock inquired, curious of the Pokémon trainer's future aspirations.

Ash looked back down at his feet. "Well," he started. "I've been looking into traveling to the Unova Region." Ash half mumbled, almost as though he was hesitant of the decision.

Brock's eyebrows rose after hearing this. Unova was far away. Farther away than any of the four regions they had traveled to before. Even if Brock didn't want to become a breeder, he still probably wouldn't travel with Ash if it meant going that far away from home.

"That's pretty far away." Brock conveyed, subtly expressing that he felt Ash should think about this before deciding to do anything too rash.

Ash looked up from his shoes, and then turned to Pikachu, who was looking up at his master, willing to support any decision he made. "You're right." Ash replied. "But I don't think I can just sit around for a whole year and wait for the Pokemon League to start up again."

Brock nodded. "Yeah, you have all thirty two badges across all four regions, plus all the Orange Isle badges and Frontier symbols. It's not like there's much for you to do here anymore."

"Yeah."

"Pika pi." The black haired trainer looked down at Pikachu, to see that his buddy was giving him the same expression that he had given Ash for the past week when the subject of traveling came up; tired.

"Yeah, you're right Pikachu." Ash smiled at his yellow friend. "We can take a break for a month or so before heading out again."

"Pika!" The electric mouse jumped up with glee after hearing this. Though Ash couldn't tell exactly what Pikachu was saying, he could tell that he was happy, and that's all that mattered.

"Well, here's our stop." Brock said with a blank tone as he looked out the window to see that the train was slowly coming to a halt. Ash and Brock both stood up from their seats, and grabbed their things. Brock grabbing his seemingly magic backpack that he had managed to fit in cooking equipment such as pots, pans, and a mini-grill, as well as cloths, food, and other miscellaneous items. While Ash grabbed his backpack and his Poké Ball belt as Pikachu jumped onto his master's right shoulder.

XXXXXXXXXX

As the two stepped off the train, both Brock and Ash took a moment to look around the somewhat empty train station. Off in the distance they could see the Pewter City Gym, which seemed to remain untouched since Ash traveled there with Misty six years prior.

"So…" Ash said to his friend as they both looked off towards the gym.

"Yeah…"

They both remained silent for a moment as the sun began to set on Pewter City. This was an odd situation for both of them. Brock hadn't left Ash's side since the Orange Isles, and that was over five years ago. Traveling with each other had become something both of them had gotten so used to. The idea of them separating was completely alien. They both felt a blanket of sorrow cover them like a dark cloud as the prospect of them going their separate ways had become a real thing. Even during the train ride neither one had really thought that much about this impending moment.

"The suns setting." Brock said, trying to break the awkward silence. "It'll be getting late soon."

"Yeah, sure is." Ash said as he looked at the now dimming sun setting beneath the trees and buildings in the distance.

"You can stay with me and my family for the night if you'd rather travel tomorrow." Brock gave the offer, already knowing what the answer would be.

"No." Ash responded plainly. "I think I can at least get half way to Viridian City before it gets too dark if I leave now."

Brock gave a slight nod. "Well, I guess this is goodbye then."

Ash turned to his friend, who still stood a head taller than Ash, even after all these years. He felt a small tear start to form in his eye as the realization that he was about to leave the friend who had traveled with him longer than anyone else ever had.

"Keep in touch Brock." Ash said as he looked up towards his friend.

"Will do."

After a brief moment Brock felt a little nudge at his left leg. He looked down to see that Ash's little yellow friend was giving him a hug. "Pika pi." The Pokémon cried as a little tear traveled down the mouse's eye.

"I'll miss you too Pikachu." Brock said with a smile and a little more enthusiasm as he bent down to pick up the little Pokémon. "Make sure Ash doesn't get into any trouble now that I'm not there, okay?"

"Hey!" Ash's exclaim was ignored.

"Well, I'll see you around Ash." Brock said as he put down Pikachu.

"I'll see you around Brock." Ash replied, trying to hide his tears by lowering the brim of his hat.

There was another brief moment of silence and unmoving between the two. Then mutually both of them opened up their arms and gave each other a hug. The same hug two brothers would share. Many times Ash had said that him and all of his companions were always friends to the end. But him and Brock were not just friends to the end, they were brothers to the end.

After a moment, they both released themselves from the hug, and gave each other a nod as the two turned and went their separate ways. Brock heading towards the Pewter Gym, Ash and Pikachu heading towards Viridian Forest.

As the two made their way to the thick forest, Ash couldn't help but stop for a moment and take notice of a sign that was posted along one of the many dirt roads of Pewter City. The sign pointed eastward, and read "Cerulean City: 42 Miles". Ash and Pikachu both stared at the sign. Though the Pokémon couldn't read the sign, just by looking at his master's face he could tell exactly what the sign made him think of. As it was a face that Pikachu had seen Ash make many times over the past four years.

Ash then let out a little huff, and continued his way south, knowing that he had to get home before the end of the week.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sound of Caterpie and Weedle that often filled Viridian Forest began to die down as the sun started to set behind Mt. Silver, and the moon began to rise from the east in its place. The only light source inside the dark forest was the small campfire Ash and Pikachu made. Pikachu had already curled into a ball and drifted off into a deep slumber. Ash on the other hand remained sitting on a stump next to the fire, trying to get any form of reception on his cell phone so he could call Dawn like he promised he would back when he and Brock left her in Johto. After a moment of fiddling with his phone, he was finally able to get a few bars to appear. Taking advantage of the moment, he prepared to hit the call button, but then stopped as a thought sparked in his mind. He looked back down at his phone, contemplating what to do. He knew that he might not be able to get reception again until he got out of Viridian Forest, and if he was going to do this, then he needed to do it now. After a moment of silently thinking and contemplating, he hit the call button.

The phone rang for a few moments, yet no answer. _C'mon, pick up your phone_. The phone continued ringing, but still no answer. After a moment, the voicemail automatically picked up.

"Hey, this is Misty, I'm sorry but I can't come to the phone right now. Leave your message after the bee-" Ash ended the call.

He began to contemplate all the reasons she didn't pick up. It was too late for gym battles, but maybe she was swimming with her Pokémon, or had a long day and went to bed early. Whatever the reason was, Ash still wished that she had picked up. Oddly enough though despite having a powerful urge to talk to her, for whatever reason not once did he even think about calling his old friend to tell her that he was coming home.

_She's probably too busy anyways_

Ash looked back down at his phone to see that the reception he had was now long gone.

"I'll just have to call Dawn tomorrow." He mumbled to himself as he turned off his phone to save the battery.

Ash looked over at his friend who was peacefully sleeping, his ears occasionally perking up every now and then. Ash stared at him, wondering what Pikachu was dreaming about. He hoped that it wasn't the same dream that he had back on the train. Of course knowing how much Pikachu was like himself, he probably was. Ash reached down and started scratching behind Pikachu's right ear. It was his favorite spot, though no one else could hit that spot the same way Ash could. Dawn had tried on multiple occasions to be able to find that spot Pikachu liked having scratched so much, unfortunately for the poor girl, one time she hit a pressure point and got zapped. After that she decided to give up on trying to find that secret spot behind Pikachu's ear.

"Pika." the yellow Pokémon let out as he continued sleeping peacefully. A small smile cracked across Ash' face from seeing his friend so comfortable and content.

After a few minutes of admiring his sleeping Pokémon, the trainer decided he'd try to hit the hay himself. Ash wanted to get home as soon as he could, and the earlier he got up, the sooner he'd be getting home. With that in mind, he poured some water on the small fire, and went to bed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Happy to finally be out of Viridian Forest, the two traveling companions decided to take advantage of the Pokémon Center in Viridian City. The moment Ash stepped onto the Pokémon Center's linoleum floor, memories from his early days of Pokémon training, his second day to be exact, came flooding back to him. The Pokémon Center hadn't changed a bit since his first journey. Even though he and Pikachu inadvertently blew it up on their first trip there. The half-circle desk still remained at the end of the lobby, and behind it the slab showing the four legendary birds Ho-oh, Moltres, Zaptos, and Articuno still hung there. As Ash soaked in the nostalgia, he started having flashbacks of seeing Misty smash her way through the doors with her scorched bike slumped over her back. All of this reflecting from his early days caused a smile to form.

"Oh, well if it isn't Mr. Sinnoh Top Four." a soft voice echoed across the lobby of the otherwise empty Pokémon Center, bringing Ash back to reality. He looked up to see Nurse Joy warmly greeting him. Though he couldn't tell by looking, he assumed this was the same Nurse Joy from when he first started his Pokémon journey.

"Hey," Ash called back, revealing a small grin. "It's good to see you again Nurse Joy." He said with a bit of hesitation, still not sure it was indeed the same one from before.

She let out her trademark rosy smile. "I must say when you first came through here after blowing up that girl's bike, I didn't expect that one day I'd be seeing you competing in Sinnoh's Top Four." She said in her cheery tone.

_Okay, it is her._

However, Ash didn't know if what she said was meant to be taken as a compliment or not. "Thanks." Ash said giving a toothy grin; He took it as a compliment. "Would you mind letting Pikachu rest up for a bit while I go use the phone?" Ash already knew the answer Nurse Joy would give him, but he asked anyways if only to be polite.

"Of course." Joy cheerfully replied as she patted on the counter, indicating for Pikachu to hop up, which the yellow mouse was quick to oblige to. "We'll get you all rested up." Joy said as she picked up the little Pokémon and carried him to the back.

Ash walked over to the video phone, and began to call home to let his Mom know that he'd made it to Viridian City. After a moment of ringing, Ash heard an answer on the other line, and the video screen lit up, showing his Mom on the screen. Though it had been a while since he had last seen her, her appearance hadn't changed much since he last saw her. Really, Ash couldn't even see any change in her appearance whatsoever.

"Hey Mom!" Ash shouted out with glee.

"Ash!" His Mom's face was filled with bliss upon seeing she finally had a chance to talk to her son. "I'm so glad to hear from you! And congratulations on your competition, you did so great!" She cried out with a since of pride in her voice. Even though he didn't win, Delia felt nothing but proud of her son for how well he did in the Lily of the Valley Conference.

"Gee Mom, it's not a big deal." Ash gave a bit of an awkward reply as he scratched the back of his head. "It's not like I won or anything."

"I know, but you should still be proud of yourself for making it as far as you did." Despite it all, Ash couldn't help but smile at seeing his Mother's pride in him. "Your father would be so proud of you if he were here."

"I'm sure he would be." Ash gave a slight nod.

"I _know_ he would be." His Mom retorted with a large smile stretching across her face.

Ash returned the smile, but he knew he had a few more calls he needed to make while he was there. "I just wanted to call and let you know I'm here in Viridian City and I should be home by tomorrow." Ash paused for a second. "But I've got to go, there's a few more calls I've gotta make."

"Okie dokie, Sweety." His Mom replied in a sweet tone. "I love you." Ash slouched down in his chair a bit and blushed a little, forgetting that the Pokémon Center was empty and that no one was there to hear his Mom say that.

"I love you too." he replied in a hushed tone. "Bye." Once the conversation ended, Ash hung up the phone, causing the video screen to go black. He then picked the phone back up and began dialing in another number that he needed to call. Halfway thorough dialing though, he stopped.

_No, no. That can wait_.

He then hung the phone back up and quickly picked it up again, and began dialing in a different number. After he punched in all the digits, the call started going through. Ash kept the phone close to his ear as he heard the ring tone buzz in his ear. After a few seconds, someone finally picked up, much to Ash's relief.

The video screen lit up, showing a pretty, blonde haired girl. Behind her were a few posters of water Pokémon and a poster that said "Sensational Sisters Underwater Ballet"

"Uh, hello?" The blonde girl answered, looking a bit puzzled as to who was calling.

"Oh, hey Daisy." Ash said, recognizing her from the few times he'd gone to the Cerulean City Gym. "It's Ash." He paused for a moment, trying to make sure he didn't stutter while saying his next sentence. "I..is Misty there?"

_Crap_

"Ash, Ash, Ash…." Daisy said as she began processing the name and matching it with the face she was staring at on the video screen. "Oh!" As she said this, Ash could have sworn he saw the light bulb go off over her head. "You're Misty's boyfriend!"

The boy's cheeks turned a near crimson red. "Uh, n..no, just her friend."

"_Sure_ you are." She snickered in a sarcastic tone.

"We're just friends!" Ash didn't mean to shout.

"Okay, okay. No need to get like, so defensive."

"Sorry," Ash apologized. "but can I talk to Misty?" He asked, remembering the reason he called in the first place.

"Like, she's not here right now." She put flatly

"Wait, what?" Ash's eyes widened. Normally Misty never left the gym unless she absolutely _had_ to. "Well did she say where she was going?"

"Uh, no. She just said something about like, having to leave for a few days."

Ash frowned at this news. "Okay," his tone began to dull. "I tried calling her on her cell phone but she wouldn't answer, so I thought I'd try calling the gym."

"Yeah, she left her phone here. She said she didn't like, want to be bothered or something like that."

Ash couldn't hide his frown anymore after hearing this. His eyes began to drift down from the screen, and down towards his feet.

Seeing the gloomy look on the sixteen year old's face, Daisy couldn't help but feel bad for him. "Hey," Daisy said in an uplifting tone, bringing Ash's eyes back to the video screen. "don't like, worry. When she comes back I'll tell her you really wanted to talk to her."

Ash's smile returned. "Thanks Daisy!"

"Not a problem." Her valley girl accent was especially abundant in that statement. "Oh by the way, when are you like, coming back to Kanto?"

"I'm already back." Ash said as he moved out of the way, revealing the sign behind him that spelled out "Viridian City Pokémon Center".

"Uh oh."

Ash didn't like the sound of that. "What do you mean "uh oh_"_?"

"Like, if Misty heard you came back to Kanto, and you didn't tell her, she'd be like, supper pissed."

_Yikes._

"Well that's not good." Ash spoke into the phone, his nervous tone becoming quite obvious.

"I'll take care of it." Daisy said seemingly unfazed by Ash's situation. "I'll just like, tell her you were on your way back when you called, okay?"

"That sounds great Daisy, I really appreciate it!" Ash's voice was filled with enthusiasm.

"Not a problem." Daisy gave a little smile to the trainer. "Catch ya latter Ashy!" The blonde gave him a little wave before hanging up the phone, and the screen went black.

"Uh… bye." Ash stared into the black screen, and began to hang up the phone.

_Okay, one more call._

"You're Pikachu is ready to go!" Nurse Joy called out to the trainer.

_I guess that'll have to wait_.

"Coming!" Ash shouted back to Nurse Joy as he stood up, and began walking away from the telephone.

XXXXXXXXXX

Pallet Town was only a mere ten miles away. Fortunately, the trek from Pewter City had taken a lot less time than Ash originally thought it would. Maybe it was because he hadn't gotten involved in any shenanigans like stealing a girl's bike, blowing up a Pokémon Center, or getting caught up with an angry hive of Beedrill.

"We're almost there Pikachu!" Ash looked up gleefully at his little friend who had perched himself onto Ash's shoulder.

"Pika pi!" Pikachu's tone was just as joyful as Ash's. It had been a long time since either of them had last been home. Even though the two loved traveling the world, and going on adventures. Home was always a welcoming thought. Especially after days of sleeping in the middle of dark, bug infested forests, or atop cold, icy mountains, and of course the occasional wasteland.

"So what do you want to do when we get home Pikachu?"

"Pika pikachu." The tone sounded indecisive.

"How about I buy you a bottle of ketchup when we get there?"

"Pika!" The little mouse cried out as he began jumping atop his master's shoulder. He was so overjoyed by the thought, that small sparks began emitting from the pouches on his cheeks.

"Easy there buddy." Ash tried calming his little friend after feeling a little zap on his left cheek. Without any hesitation, Pikachu quickly settled down and gave his master a lick on the same cheek he unintentionally zapped; His own little way of apologizing.

As the two continued down the road, Ash couldn't help but admire the beauty of Kanto. It had been something he had taken for granted growing up. But now, after being away from home for so long, the natural beauty of his home region really stood out to him. The grassy fields and rolling hills stretched out for miles and miles, and the trees and grass always had a special tint of green to them. This wasn't just a bias, this was something that even painters and photographers took notice of. "Kanto Green" is what they always called it, just like how they would call the deep blue tint of Sinnoh's skies "Sinnoh Blue". And to top off this beautiful scenery, to his west stood Mt. Silver, its peak hiding behind the soft clouds that floated high in the sky.

"Hey Pikachu, remind me to one day bring Dawn here, I think someone like her would appreciate Kanto. Ash paused for a moment after saying this, and suddenly he felt a pit in his chest.

_Oh no._

Ash quickly reached for his cell phone, which he had not turned on since Viridian Forest. He began to fumble with his phone, trying to turn on the device. As the screen lit up, Ash was greeted by a message appearing on the screen that read "32 Missed Calls".

"Oh jeez." Ash quickly pulled up Dawn's number, and hit the call button. The other line picked up before the second ring could finish.

_Well at least she's expecting me to call her._ He thought. However it gave him no solace, as he was sure her greeting would not be full of pleasantries.

"About time you called!" The blue haired girl boomed through the speakers.

Ash squinted as her voice pierced through his right ear. "Hehe, yeah sorry 'bout that Dawn. I ran into a bit of trouble trying to get in touch with you."

There was a momentary pause on the other end of the phone. "Well I'm glad you finally called. I was getting worried about you." The concern in her voice was quite apparent.

"Don't worry Dawn, I'm fine. I'm almost home anyways."

"Okay, good." Her concern seemed to be slowly leaving her voice upon hearing this news.

"How's Johto so far?" He asked, curious to see how she was settling into the new region, and also wanting to avoid the subject of her asking what type of "trouble" he ran into that delayed his call.

"It's a lot warmer than Sinnoh, that's for sure!"

_Well maybe if you didn't wear that skirt the whole time we were there, you wouldn't have been so cold._

"That's good!" Ash answered, ignoring his mental assertions. "When's your next contest anyways?"

"I have one in Goldenrod next week!" She haply exclaimed. "I'm so excited!"

"Awesome!" Ash was interested in hearing about this, but there was a slight hint of disinterest in his voice. Mainly because all he wanted to do at the moment was get home. "I hope you win it al-"

"Ash Ketchum!" A familiar voice echoed through his ears. He felt a sudden chill run up his spine as the voice reached his eardrums.

"Dawn, sorry, but I've got to go." Ash said before hanging up, not even allowing enough time for her to reply. It may have been rude, but if who he heard was who he thought it was, then their small talk could wait.

The black haired trainer turned towards the direction the voice originated from, his heart almost frozen from surprise at the very thought of this voice belonging to who he thought it belonged to. After turning towards the origin of the voice, he could see a female figure standing atop a rock, looking down at him. She wore a yellow shirt with a red bolero style jacket, along with a pair of blue jean shorts with a red belt and red and white tennis shoes. Her fiery red hair flowed down at a little bit past her shoulders, and her aqua green eyes beamed directly at him.

"Misty!"


	2. A Welcomed Invitation

Author's note: Hello everybody. I didn't put a proper forward in the first chapter so I figured I'd put one here. I'm sure that if you've read up to this point, you have realized that this is not exactly a traditionally written fic. This is by design. I'm not necessarily trying to write a novel, I'm just trying to write a good story that when read, feels more like you're watching the anime rather than reading a book. Not to say that this story won't incorporate aspects found in novels though.

I also feel I should tell you all that if you haven't enjoyed my writing style up to this point, don't expect for it to get much better. I will try to better myself as a writer over the course of this story, but I'm literally revising and editing these chapters three or four times before posting them. This is literally the best I have to offer. I will accept any constructive criticism though, and I will certainly take into account any feedback I receive on this story.

One more thing I'd like to address is something you've all probably figured out by now. In this story the characters have aged. I'm widely aware that Ash and Misty are still ten years old in the anime, but it's impossible to make a decent love story between two characters that are ten years old without going into creepy territory.

But enough of my blabbering, enjoy!

* * *

Ash and Pikachu darted towards their longtime friend, ecstatic to see the redhead for the first time in years. A little warm feeling came up in Ash's stomach as he grew closer to her. He could hear Pikachu's cries of joy as he raced his trainer to get to her first. Once the two finally made their way to Misty, Ash wrapped his arms around her and giving her a constricting hug.

"Ack!" Misty let out as Ash squeezed her lungs, gasping for air. "Get off!" She screeched, pushing him away, and smacking her right palm against the back of her old traveling companion's head.

"Hey! What was that for?" Ash snapped as he rubbed the back of his head, glaring at Misty. "I haven't seen you in forever and this is how you say hi?" Though he was slightly annoyed that the first thing one of his best friends did after seeing him for the first time in years was smack him on the back of the head, he couldn't help but smile a little, seeing that Misty hadn't changed a bit.

"Don't give me that!" She spat. "You came back to Kanto and didn't even so much as give me a call!" As she said this, Ash stared down at his feet while, still rubbing the back of his head. He began to think back to Daisy's warning from earlier that day, fearing the wrath the redhead was about to bring unto him. "If it hadn't been for your Mom calling me to tell me you were coming home, I wouldn't have known a thing!"

"I..I tried to call you." He defended, knowing that his excuse was completely invalid, especially since he called _after_ arriving in Kanto. After hearing this, Misty continued to beam at him with fire burning in her eyes. The trainer tried to keep a faint smile, hoping it would simmer down the girl's rage against him.

After a moment of staring at one another, she let out a huff. "If you think you're getting off that easy, you're wrong Mr. Ketchum!" She crossed her arms. "You're lucky I missed you, otherwise I'd pull out my mallet on you!"

"Y..you missed me?" Ash blushed, not even taking note of the last part of her statement.

Misty, faintly blushing as well, quickly retorted to the statement. "Don't make yourself feel too special, Ash." She growled. "I'm just here to make sure you don't get eaten by any wild Fearow on your way home."

"Pika?" Pikachu murmured in a doleful tone.

Misty looked down at the little Pokémon. "Oh, of course I wanted to see you!" Misty's tone made a complete one-eighty as she bent down and picked up the yellow mouse, and snuggled him against her cheek. Pikachu began to lick her on the nose, causing the redhead to giggle.

_Well gee, why does _he_ always get to be on her good side? _Ash wondered as he crossed his arms, and stuck his nose up away from the two. "I'm glad I can always count on you, Pikachu." The sarcasm in his voice was quite apparent.

"Oh, get over it you big baby." Misty grumbled as Pikachu continued licking away at her cheek. "Now c'mon, everyone's waiting for us!" She called out to Ash as she started making her way down the dirt road, holding Pikachu in the same manner she once held Togepi and Azurill.

Seeing that she was walking off with Pikachu, the trainer from Pallet darted towards the two, trying to catch up with them. "You know, you could have been a little nicer." He nagged at the gym leader as he slowed down his pace to a casual walk.

"Maybe I would if you called once in a while."

"Pika!" Pikachu joined Misty's side.

_Yup, I can _always_ count on you Pikachu._

"Didn't you hear me? I said I tried to call but you weren't at the gym! Besides that, Daisy said you left your cell phone there cause you didn't want to be bothered." Ash then paused for a moment, thinking about the last part of what he just said. "Hey!" He cried out, just now causing Misty to turn her head towards him. "Why did you not want to be bothered if you were just coming to see me?"

Misty quickly turned her head away from Ash and began to blush. "Uh… no reason. Can't a girl just ask for some solitude every now and then?" Her tone was very defensive with a slight hint of aggression.

He gave her a puzzled look, not quite sure what to make out of her statement. He could tell she was hiding something, but the trainer just couldn't place his finger on what she was hiding. "Uh-huh. _sure_."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The redhead snapped.

"Oh nothing." Ash replied with a smirk. "You come here to see me and you don't want to be bothered by anyone…." He gave her a glare, narrowing his eyes. "I know why you left your cell phone at home."

Misty's eyes began to widen. _Don't tell me he's figured me out that easily._

"You've been getting called by a lot of telemarketers!"

Misty resisted the urge to slam her palm against her forehead. "Yes Ash, that is the exact reason why I left my phone at the gym." Her tone was so dull there was no hiding her sarcasm. She didn't even care if he could somehow piece together that she just wanted to spend time with him without being interrupted.

"Haha!" Ash laughed triumphantly. "I knew it!"

_How has he not grown out of being such a moron?_

Nonetheless, Ash, still oblivious to her sarcasm, made a toothy grin. "Aren't I such a great detective Misty?"

"Amazing, Ash."

"Maybe if being a Pokémon Master doesn't' work out, I could just be a detective instead!"

_I hope he's joking_

"Yup, that's what I'm going to d-"

"Ash, just shut up." Misty said flatly, annoyance filling her voice.

"Pi-ka". Pikachu sighed in agreement.

"Oh alright." Ash mumbled as he looked down at his feet. Misty turned and looked back at her one time childhood crush and shook her head as she began to wonder how on earth she had fallen for a guy like him when she was a kid.

"Still the same old Ash." She whispered to herself, cracking a smile.

XXXXXXXXXX

As the sun began to set over Mt. Silver, the three had finally reached Pallet Town. Ash had to stop and take in a deep breath to let the clean Pallet Town air course through his lungs. From atop the hill overlooking the small town, he could smell the ocean breeze that came from Pallet Beach which was just a few miles away. Not a day had gone by that he didn't think about this beautiful smell, the smell of home. Realizing that Ash had stopped, Misty turned around to face her friend, waiting for him to finish taking in a deep breath of Pallet Town's fresh air.

After exhaling, Ash opened his eyes to see that Misty stood before him. The soft ocean breeze caused her hair to flow with the wind, and her aqua green eyes were exemplified by the brilliant rays from the setting sun. The rolling hills of Pallet Town flowed behind her, off in the distance he could see the windmill from Professor Oak's laboratory, as well as the small houses scattered throughout the town, and to top off this beautiful backdrop was the ocean which reflected the light from the setting sun. Ash found himself dumbstruck by how astonishing the site he was viewing was. It almost looked like a shot from a movie, and to see such a view in person was definitely worth taking note of.

"Are you alright Ash?" She asked, finally snapping him back into reality.

"Uh yeah… Yeah. It's just er…" Misty gave him a bit of a puzzled look as she waited for him to say what he was going to say. "I like the uh.. new look." He said, pointing to her hair which had grown considerably since they last saw each other, and was also no longer in the side ponytail she normally kept it in.

The gym leader blushed a little, the setting sun concealing her flushed cheeks. "Thanks Ash." She gave him a warm smile. "You've grown quite a bit yourself." She paused. "You're actually taller than me now." She said with a giggle.

Ash let out a little chuckle as he looked down at his feet and scratched the back of his neck, trying to hide his blush. There was a brief moment where both of them remained silent, before Ash finally looked back up at Misty, who was still gazing at him with a warm smile.

"I guess we should get to my house." Ash proposed, breaking the silence.

The gym leader gave a nod. "Yeah, you're probably right." she said as she turned around and made her way down the hill, Ash following suit behind her.

"Ya know," Ash spoke as he walked alongside his friend. "I'm really sorry I haven't kept in touch." He paused. "I really should have."

The redhead turned towards him, still holding a now sleeping Pikachu in her arms. "Thank you Ash, that's all I wanted to hear." Her expression was genuinely warm and forgiving.

The black haired trainer felt a tinge of warmth fill his body, upon receiving forgiveness from her. Though the two often bickered with one another, Ash never liked the idea of Misty being angry at him. Annoyed and irritated was one thing, the redhead was always agitated with him to at least some extent. Anger though, that was something he never liked to be faced with, especially when it was coming from her.

"Do you want to know the real reason I left my phone back at Cerulean?"

Ash looked up at her with a confused look. "You mean it wasn't because of telemarketers?"

Misty giggled. Sometimes when the moment was right, she found his dense nature to be cute in a way. "No Ash, it wasn't because of telemarketers."

"Well then why was it?"

Misty hesitated in her answer. She didn't want to sound too gushy. Especially with her friend. "Well you see…" She paused for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts.

"Yeah?" Ash spoke, waiting for her answer.

"You see," Misty continued. "I've really missed you, and when I found out that you were coming back, I wanted to spend as much time with you as I could before you go on another journey. Your Mom said that you were going to Unova, and that's really far away. So I probably wouldn't get to see you again until you got back.

Ash frowned. "You know, you could go with me." He offered. "You said your sisters have gotten pretty good at battles, and they can manage the gym pretty well themselves." He recalled this from some of the few letters and phone calls they had exchanged when he first started traveling through Sinnoh.

Misty shook her head. "That sounds really nice Ash, but I can't be _that_ far away from the gym. If an emergency were to come up, it'd take me weeks to get home. If it was just a little closer, I would love to go with you."

"Oh." Ash paused for a moment, saddened by her decline to join him. "So what were you saying earlier, Mist?" He asked, trying to get the subject back on course.

"Well," Misty started up again, continuing where she left off. "Since I knew that this would be the last time I'd get to see you until you came back from Unova, I wanted to spend this month with you, and not have to worry about any interruptions." As she said this, Misty turned towards the Sinnoh Top Four competitor, and gave him another warm smile.

"That sounds amazing Mist!" Ash shouted out with glee, his happiness quickly returning to his face.

"You really think so?" Misty asked in a sheepish, yet blissful tone.

"I can't think of a better way to spend my time home than with my best friend!" Ash smiled from ear to ear.

"You really mean that?" She asked, looking down at her red tennis shoes, her cheeks like two red cherries.

"Every word of it!"

"You're really sweet Ash."

Ash gave her a puzzled look. "What do you mean sweet?" He had heard Misty call him many things before. "Dumb", "baby", "moron", "immature", and "idiot" being among the top five. But "sweet" was one of those things she had _never_ called him before.

"Don't worry about it Ash." Misty replied with a giggle as the two continued their trek to Pallet.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sun had completely set on Pallet Town, and the moon began to rise over the ocean. The warm early summer air felt great as Ash and Misty made their way towards the Ketchum household. All the lights were on inside, and Ash couldn't help but feel that there was something else going on that Misty hadn't told him about.

"Pikachu, wake up." Misty said in a soft, sweet voice, awakening the Pokémon. "We're home."

"Pika!" The rodent's ears perked up upon hearing the news, and quickly sprung out of Misty's arms, and onto his master's shoulder.

Ash chuckled. "Someone's happy to be home."

"Pikachu!" Gleeful wasn't enough to describe the happiness the Pokémon was feeling.

"Do you blame him?" Misty giggled as she approached the front door, being sure to wait for Ash to catch up before opening it. Once Ash was next to her, she slowly creaked the door open.

"SURPRISE!" Three voices boomed upon the two entering the house. Upon quick examination Ash could see the voices belonged to his Mother, Professor Oak, and Tracy.

"What's the occasion?" Ash seemed a bit puzzled by the little surprise party.

Misty gave him a light smack on the back of the head. "What do you mean _"What's the occasion?"_?"She snapped. "We've missed you, and you should be proud of yourself for making it as far as you did in Sinnoh."

He let out a laugh, knowing that Misty's gesture was entirely playful. "Alright, alright. Ya didn't have to hit me." He then stuck his tongue out at the redhead. She did the same.

"Oh enough of that, you two love birds!" Delia's soft voice spoke up. Ash and Misty quickly turned to her, their cheeks glowing red.

"Where're just friends!" Both of them yelled in unison.

"Whatever you say." Delia rolled her eyes at the two as she approached her son to give him a giant hug. "I've missed you _so_ much Ash." She said as her grip tightened around his ribs, causing him to let out an "Ack".

"Now you know how I felt." Misty slyly remarked, giving Ash a little wink.

"It's good to see you too Mom." Ash grunted as he tried to return the hug. However as his arms began to encircle her, she tightened her grip on him, causing his arms to stretch out like one of his old action figures from his childhood that would stick his arms out when you squeezed his sides. As her grip tightened, he swore he could hear one of his ribs crack when she did.

_I'd rather be getting a hug from a Kingler._

After a few more seconds of his Mother's vice grip of a hug, she finally let go, allowing for Ash to gasp for air.

"It's so good for you to finally come back home." She said in a loving manner. She then turned to Misty and gave her a much lighter hug. "And it's great to see you too Misty. It's been so long." Once Ash had finally sucked in enough air to fill his oxygen deprived lungs, he couldn't help but throw a glare at Misty who was getting what looked like the much more comfortable hug.

"Me and Tracy watched you compete in Sinnoh." Professor Oak spoke, diverting Ash's attention. "I was very impressed. Especially with Infernape, Sceptile, and Pikachu." After hearing this, Pikachu let out a little squeak.

"Yeah!" Tracy added. "That battle with Infernape and Electrivire was phenomenal!"

The black haired trainer nodded at the two. "Thanks, I just wish that I had been better prepared for Tobias."

Oak shook his head, his look a little more serious. "No one could have prepared for a fight like that."

"Even the Elite Four had a lot of trouble taking him out." Tracey stated. "And besides, you did better than any other trainer at the conference. Nobody else could even take down his Darkrai."

"Yeah," Ash wanted to change the conversation. "So is there any food?" He asked giving a toothy grin. "I'm starving."

"Of course you'd ask that." Misty mumbled, rolling her eyes.

"Me and Mimey have been cooking all sorts of food, Ash." His Mother answered in her soft spoken voice as she guided him and Pikachu into the kitchen.

Once the two entered the kitchen, Professor Oak looked over at Misty. "Well Ms. Waterflower, it is very good to see you again." Oak said as he sat down on the couch and took a sip of his tea.

"It's good to see you too Professor Oak." She greeted back, making a big ear-to-ear smile. "And it's great to see you too Tracy!" Tracy was in the middle of drinking his tea, and couldn't immediately respond. After taking a sip, he was finally able to reply.

"Hey Misty." He said after swallowing his tea. "How's the gym going?"

"It's fine I guess." She answered as she reached for a cup to make herself some tea. "Daisy, Violet, and Lily are running it for now." She paused as she poured the dark liquid. "Now that they can run the gym themselves, I don't have to stress so much about running it full time anymore."

"That's nice to hear." Tracy said giving a small nod. "Are you going to be traveling with Ash to Unova now that you don't have to worry about running the gym all the time?"

Misty stopped, holding her tea mere inches from her lips. She wanted to say yes, but instead she shook her head. "No, I can't." It was quite obvious to Oak and Tracy that wasn't the answer she wanted to give. "I'm not running the gym full time anymore, but if an emergency ever came up, I'd need to be able to get back to the gym as quickly as possible." She took a sip of her tea. "And if I'm all the way in Unova, it'd take weeks just to get back home." Her explanation was almost identical to the one she gave Ash.

"Understandable." Oak said as he gave a nod. "That's a very mature thing to do."

Misty returned the nod and made a weak smile. However, she couldn't help but know that it may have been the _mature_ thing to do, but that didn't mean it was what she _wanted_ to do. This was more than just a childish need to escape from responsibility. She was a lot like Ash in that they both wanted to travel the world, see all sorts of different Pokémon, and go on adventures. However, the hand destiny dealt her just wasn't a lucky draw. It wasn't that Misty hated being a gym leader, it was just that there were things she wanted to do while she was still young. Maybe the idea of being a gym leader would be more appealing as she became older, but for the moment all she wanted to go on adventures like Ash.

"Yeah, I guess sometimes life just doesn't schedule itself to your convenience." She mumbled. The statement wasn't directed at anyone but herself. After hearing this, Oak gave a silent nod and proceeded to drink his tea.

Ash and Delia returned to the room along with Mr. Mime, all of them carrying plates full of food. Ash, Delia, and Mimey carried a plate in each hand, while Pikachu carried his own little plate above his head. Delia gave one of her plates to Tracy, while Mimey gave one of his to Professor Oak, and finally Ash made his way over to Misty and gave her his second plate. All three of them replied with a "thank you" as the plates full of food were handed to them. Meanwhile, Pikachu had placed his dish on the floor and began to chow down on his plate full of ketchup soaked french-fries.

"Take a seat you two." Delia directed at Ash and Misty. Both of them silently nodded in agreement, and took a seat next to each other on the couch across from the one Oak and Tracy were sitting on. Once they were seated, Delia gave both of them a kind hearted smile.

"This food smells really good Mrs. Ketchum." Misty praised as she looked down at her plate that had been loaded with chicken, mash potatoes, and salad. However, after saying this, upon quick inspection she realized that there were pieces of carrots in her salad. She had to resist the urge to cringe. She didn't want to seem rude, but she couldn't help but gag a little at the site of carrots in her food. Curious as to what was going on, Ash looked over at the gym leader's plate to see the sliced carrots in her salad.

"Oops." Ash said as he realized what he had done. "That's my plate." Ash quickly swapped out his plate for Misty's. Upon inspection of her new plate, Misty was pleased to see that there was no trace of any carrots or peppers on her food.

"Thanks As-" She stopped as she looked over to see that Ash was already gobbling down his food. However despite having a mouth full of food, he still took time to acknowledge Misty's thanks.

"Not a probrum Mist." She almost lost her appetite upon seeing Ash's mouth full of food. Tracy and Oak couldn't help but chuckle a little after seeing her repulsed reaction to Ash. Delia on the other hand didn't.

"Ash Ketchum!" She snapped. "I taught you better than that!"

"Sorry Mom." He apologized after swallowing his food.

Delia shook her head. "I thought I raised such a good boy. And here you are talking with your mouth full in front of your girlfriend."

Misty nearly choked on her tea, and Ash nearly coughed up his chicken. Did she not hear what they said regarding her love birds comment from earlier?

"We're just friends!" Once again spoken in unison.

Everyone else, including Mr. Mime and Pikachu couldn't help but laugh at the overly defensive teenagers. The two teens both began to blush as the words Delia said sunk into the two.

"Mom!" Ash yelled out. "We're just friends, that's what we've always been!"

Professor Oak and Tracey, though trying to remain quiet throughout this were still quietly exchanging laughs with each other as they watched the conversation ensue.

"Then what about the mistletoe incident a few years ago?" Delia said in a semi-serious tone.

Ash and Misty's faces both erupted in redness as they heard these words. There faces became so hot as the blood rushed to their heads that they could have sworn steam was coming out of their ears.

Oak, Tracey, and Pikachu couldn't hold it in anymore, and started cracking up with laughter.

"That was four years ago!" Ash quickly defended. "A..And it was Misty who tried to kiss me!"

Misty turned towards the black haired teen. "Well we were both under the mistletoe, what was I supposed to do?!"

"I don't know, not try to kiss me?"

"I didn't even try to kiss you! I just pointed out that we were under the mistletoe and you went screaming into the kitchen, slipped, and knocked down the table!"

"Well why did you mention we were under the mistletoe if you weren't going to kiss me?" Ash crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out at Misty.

If Misty's face could have turned any redder than it already was, it would have. "We were twelve years old, I thought you had to…. Just forget it!" Misty threw her hands up in the air and leaned back on the couch to see that Delia, Oak, Tracey, Pikachu, and Mr. Mime had all erupted in laughter after seeing the two bicker like the did.

However, the moment was interrupted as a knock rattled on the front door. Everyone one in the room stopped laughing for a moment as they all looked over at the door. Ash put his plate on the coffee table in front of him, and made his way to the door, his face now finally returning to a normal complexion. He looked through the peep hole on the door to see that there was young man standing outside. He was wearing an orange and black jacket with a matching baseball cap that had "Pokémon League Association" spelled across it in big bold letters. Ash slowly opened the door. Once the door was open, the man greeted the teen with a smile.

"Hello, I have a letter for a Mr. Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town."

Uh that's me." Ash replied to the currier's statement. The currier eyed the trainer, seemingly looking him over to see if he was telling the truth. As he did this, Misty, Delia, and Tracy made their way towards the door to see what this was all about. Oak on the other hand remained seated, and coolly continued drinking his tea.

"Yeah, you're Ash Ketchum alright." The man in the jacket said after he finished inspecting the trainer. "I've gotta say, you were amazing in Sinnoh." Ash nodded at the compliment and thanked him as the currier as he ruffled through his bag, searching for the letter he was sent to deliver.

"Any idea what the letter's about?" Misty inquired out of her own curiosity.

The currier shook his head. "I don't know. I was just told by President Goodshow himself to make sure this letter was hand delivered to you." After hearing these words everyone in the room gasped. Even Pikachu took note of this. The only one seemingly unfazed by this was the Professor.

"You mean _the_ Charles Goodshow?" Tracey asked, almost at a loss for words.

"Is there any other?" The currier laughed under his breath as he continued rummaging through the letters. "Ah, here it is." The currier pulled out an envelope that had the Pokémon League symbol crested onto the seal. "Here you go." He said as he handed the letter to Ash.

"Uh, thanks." Ash was still a little confused and taken back by this sudden, unexpected mail call.

Once Ash was handed the letter, Delia remembered her manners. "Would you like some tea, young man?" she offered the currier, pointing towards the tea set sitting on the coffee table.

The currier gave a smile and politely shook his head. "Sorry ma'm." He answered. "But I've got to deliver a few more letters before the night's over." He then turned and looked up towards the sky. "Pidgeot!" He shouted out as his flying companion soared down from the sky and landed in the Ketchum's front yard. The currier turned to give the four at the door a wave as he walked away. "You guys have a good night!"

"You too!" All four of them shouted back as he mounted the giant bird. Once saddled in on his Pidgiot, he gave it a slight kick to its side with his heels, and the bird took off into the sky, soaring off northward.

Ash closed the door, still staring at the envelope in hand. A puzzled expression remained on his face, as he had no idea what this letter was about, or why he received it.

"Hey Professor." Ash called out to the scientist who was still drinking his tea. "You're apart of the P.L.A., do you have any idea what this is about?" After the question was asked, all eyes turned to Oak.

The Professor took another sip of his tea. "We've had a few meetings over the past few months, but you know how much of an enigma Mr. Goodshow can be." Oak calmly replied, claming ignorance. "Why don't you open it and find out for yourself?"

Ash shrugged his shoulders, and then broke the seal on the envelope. Misty peaked over his shoulder to see the letter as he pulled it out from the envelope. On the front of the solid white sheet of folded paper was Ash's name spelt out in beautiful penmanship. Ash stared at the piece of paper for a second, admiring the beautiful handwriting. He then felt a nudge in his side as Misty told him to hurry up and open the letter.

"Okay, okay." He grumbled, unfolding the letter. Upon opening the letter, Ash saw that the penmanship in the letter itself was just as beautifully handwritten as Ash's name had been.

"What does it say Sweety?" Delia asked as she leaned over Ash's other shoulder.

He cleared his throat before he began to read it. "Dear Mr. Ketchum, firstly I would like to congratulate you on making it to the Top Four of the Sinnoh Region's Lily of the Valley Conference. You should be very proud of your achievement." Ash cracked a small grin at the thought of being congratulated by the Pokémon League President. "However, that is not why I'm sending you this letter. Within the past few years the Pokémon League Association has been discussing the idea of adding another league, albeit a much more exclusive league than the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh leagues." Ash paused for a moment and looked at Misty, who was still leaning over his shoulder. The two gave each other an intrigued look, and then turned back towards the letter. Ash continued reading. "Starting May 3rd, The Pokémon League will be opening the gyms to the exclusive Master League Conference in the Zerra Region, which you have been invited to attend." Ash could see Misty's eyes light up when the Zerra Region was brought up. All Ash knew about it was that it was an island just south of Hoenn, and was a major tourist attraction. However, it didn't come as much of a surprise to him that the Pokémon League decided to open up a conference there. "The gyms operating under this league will only be open to those who have achieved the top eight spots in the most recent Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh competitions." Ash paused for a second.

"Wait." He said with a big smile. "I made it to the top four! So that means I get to go!"

Misty slapped her palm against her forehead. "What part of when he said "You've been invited" did you not understand?"

Ash then silently acknowledged the redundancy of his statement, and then continued reading. "Those who can achieve all eight badges in the Zerra Region by November 1st will be allowed to compete in the Master League Championship. Though the winner of this championship will not be awarded with a regional title like Lance, Steven Stone, or Cynthia. Instead, the winner will be allowed to choose between either the total sum of a five million dollar cash prize, or a chance to challenge any of the three champions for the title of their respected region, without having to face the Elite Four's gauntlet."

"Oh wow!" Ash, Misty, and Tracey all exclaimed at once upon hearing this. As the letter continued on, Unova began to drift farther and farther away from Ash's mind. "If you wish to compete, then you must attend the League orientation meeting in the P.L.A. Tower in Crestpeak City of the Zerra Region on May 2nd. I hope to see you attend, and look forward to seeing you compete. With the utmost regards, President Charles Goodshow."

There was a moment of silence amongst the house. The only one who showed no real reaction to this was Professor Oak, just as he had from the moment the letter arrived. "This is so cool!" Ash screamed aloud, breaking the silence, causing everyone else to jump from Ash's sudden exclamation.

"Uh, Ash." Misty said as she poked him on the shoulder." The trainer turned to her. "I think there's something else in there." The gym leader pointed towards the envelope, revealing that there was still another piece of paper inside.

Ash pulled out the paper, causing two previously unseen tickets fell out of the envelope and land on the floor. Before he could pick them up, Misty was already reaching down to scoop them up off the ground. "Are those plane tickets?" He asked as he stared at the two stubs of paper Misty was holding.

"I think so." She answered as she examined the little rectangular stubs of paper.

"Hey Ash, that paper says something." Tracy pointed towards the second piece of paper Ash was holding.

Seeing that Tracy was right, he took a quick look at the paper, and read it aloud. "P.S. I know that you normally travel with companions, and as such I would like to give you an extra ticket to Zerra. Your guest's traveling expenses as well as their ticket to attend the Master League Championship as a guest have already been paid for. However, we can only pay for one guest due to how big of an even this is. Good luck on your journey, Charles Goodshow."

"Well that was very kind of him." Delia said as she looked away from the letter, and towards her son. "So who are you going to take with you?"

"Well Misty of course!" He replied with a large amount of enthusiasm in his voice.

_Wait, what did I just say?_

Ash realized that what he said was completely impulsive and he hadn't put any thought into his statement whatsoever. He mentally scolded himself for saying that. Not because he didn't want Misty to go, he loved the idea of her joining him on another journey. However, she was a gym leader and was probably too busy to go with him. That, and him just outright saying he'd take Misty with him without even asking her about it first probably made him sound like an inconsiderate jerk due to his lack of thinking about other people's lives and priorities.

He slowly turned towards Misty, who was still standing next to him. He was expecting her to have that angry look she'd always give him whenever he'd say or do something stupid. Ash took a deep breath as he prepared to give a whole hearted apology for his inconsiderate statement. However, when he turned towards her, he was met with quite a surprise.

Her face wasn't angry at all. There wasn't even a sign of her being somewhat miffed. Instead, a big smile stretched across her face, and her green eyes lit up like a bright, starry night. Ash was completely taken back by this, as it was the complete opposite reaction as to what he initially expected. Which made what happened next even more surprising.

"Oh Ash, that sounds amazing!" The redhead opened up her arms and took him in for a tight hug. Ash was completely off guard, and didn't expect this in the slightest. He had never seen Misty react like this before, and honestly he didn't really mind it too much.

"Oh now isn't that just precious." Delia said. "Let me get my camera."

Now he minded it.

The trainer started to gently push Misty back upon hearing his Mom was about to bring out the camera. "Are you sure you want to go Misty?" He asked, still remembering what she said about wanting to be close to the gym. "I mean Zerra is pretty far away."

"Yeah, but it won't take me two weeks to get back home if I needed to." She replied, her smile still present. "Besides, I've always wanted to go to the Zerra Region ever since I was a little girl!"

"But do you think your sisters can run the gym?"

"Of course they can!" She said in a matter-of-fact tone. "They're a lot better than they were six years ago."

Ash thought about bringing up more points as to why she might want to stay, but then he came to the quite obvious realization that if he brought up a good enough reason for her not to go, she might heed his advice and stay in Kanto.

"Well this is great!" Enthusiasm filling Ash's voice. "I can't wait!"

"Me neither!"

Neither one had seen this much enthusiasm in the other before. It was almost strange for them to see each other acting so giddy and childish. However this thought was cut short as Delia came in with the camera.

"Oh shoot." She said, seeing that the two teens were no longer hugging each other. "That would have made an excellent addition to the scrapbook."

Ash gave a sigh of relief after seeing that the picture had been averted. He hated it when his Mom took pictures of him.

XXXXXXXXXX

The Ketchum residence had grown silent as the midnight hour rolled around. Tracy and Oak had returned home, while everyone else had long since gone to bed. Misty had already called her sisters to let them know that she would be spending the next seven months with Ash so they could travel to Zerra. However, all Daisy, Lily, and Violet had to say were things like _"Oh that's like, so sweet!"_ or _"Don't go falling in love." _Or the worst one being when Violet said _"Don't get too friendly when you two are all by yourselves." _That was when Misty simply told them to send Starmie and Gyarados to Professor Oak's lab, and to mail her cell phone to her before hanging up.

As she laid on the bed of the guest bedroom, she couldn't help but giggle and smile at the thought of traveling with Ash again. Or traveling in general really. For years she had spent almost all of her time in Cerulean City, and a majority of the time spent there was inside the gym. Just the idea of going somewhere new filled her with glee, and for it to be with her best friend made her even more joyous.

She leaned up in her bed, knowing that she was too excited for any chance of sleeping. Her and Ash would be leaving later that week for Crestpeak City, and would be arriving the day before the orientation, giving them a day to enjoy the "Electric City" as the tourists called it.

Even though she was going with Ash to help him win his eight badges, that didn't mean she wasn't going to take time to enjoy the pleasantries Zerra offered. Sunnyport Beach, Orchid City, Scarlett Town. All of these cities she had seen on television, boasting beautiful scenery, plenty of fun things to do and maybe even some souvenirs to buy. Misty almost felt like she was dreaming just thinking about all the wonderful things there were to do in Zerra.

She laid back down on the bed, and took a deep breath. "This is going to be amazing." She whispered to herself. However, her daydreaming was interrupted by a light rasp outside the window. Curious, she got up and moved the curtains to see what was making the noise. As she slowly pulled the white curtains out of the way, it was revealed that the noise was just the sound of a nearby tree branch rubbing against the house, which served as no surprise to her. What was to her surprise though was seeing Ash sitting in the middle of the backyard, facing towards Mt. Silver.

Curious as to what he was doing out there, she put on her red sleeping shorts which went down to her knees, and an oversized white night shirt before quietly making her way out of the guest bedroom, trying to be sure not to wake Delia when she creaked the door open.

As her bare feet padded down the stairs, she took grip of the wooden rail so she wouldn't loose her footing in the darkness. Once downstairs, she turned towards the kitchen, and made her way to the backdoor from there. All the while making sure not to smash her shin against the coffee table or accidentally knock over anything in the kitchen.

She slowly opened the back door, feeling the summer air against her face as she did so. After taking a quick peak outside, Misty could see that Ash was still completely unaware that she was there.

"Ash?" He turned as Misty's voice traveled through his ears.

"Oh, hey Mist." He called back, sounding as though he had been deep in thought just before she came out. "Sorry if I woke you, why don't you go on back to bed?"

"I'm fine." Misty replied in a soft voice. "I can't sleep anyways.

"Why? Nightmares?" There wasn't as much concern in his voice as much as it was curiosity.

"No," Misty answered as she took a seat beside him on the grass, leaning back on her hands for support, similar to the way Ash was sitting. "Too excited." She giggled.

"Me too." He chuckled.

The two remained silent as they both looked up at the brilliantly lit night sky. Night skies were always beautiful in Pallet Town, especially around this time of the night. Since there weren't any tall buildings around that kept their lights twenty-four seven, or any smog that obstructed the view of the sky, every night here was always a beautiful one.

"Hey, Mist?" Ash said in what almost sounded like a whisper, speaking as if he didn't want to ruin the beauty of the night's solitude.

"Yeah Ash?" Misty whispered back to him.

"I'm really glad you decided to come with me."

"I'm glad you asked me." She said with a smile as the full moon began to hover directly above the two teenagers. The black haired trainer looked over at the gym leader, and began thinking back to the old days when they were young and had only just begun their journey.

"Do you remember the times we would camp out in a dark forest and wouldn't sleep because we were too afraid that wild Pokémon would attack us in our sleep?

Misty turned towards Ash and gave a smile. "Yup, and whenever Brock fell asleep, me and you would look up at the stars and see what Pokémon we could spot in the consolations until we both fell asleep." She remembered those days quite fondly.

Ash smiled as those memories resurged through his mind. He could remember the two of them would spend those nights laughing and talking about how they were both going to be the best Pokémon trainers in the world. Misty was going to become a Master of water Pokémon, and he was just going to become an all around Pokémon Master.

Ash leaned back and looked up to the stars, spotting out the consolations they'd look for when they were younger. "There's Zaptos." He said, pointing up to a grouping of stars to the east."

"And there's Suicune." Misty pointed towards a consolation just south of Zaptos.

Ash turned towards her and give her a faint smile, Misty returning the smile. He looked into her brilliant green eyes that seemed to almost glow in the moonlight. As a child, he had always seen Misty as nothing more than a really good friend, and that was still what he saw her as. However, he couldn't deny how beautiful she looked out here in the moonlight. Her red hair gently blowing behind her, her eyes reflecting the moonlight, and her pale skin contrasting beautifully with the darkness around her.

"Those were great days, huh?" He said, looking directly into her eyes.

Misty gave a small frown. "You say it like the best days are behind us?"

Ash remained silent for a moment. There was no denying from the moment Misty left the original trio, he had always felt that there was a hole in his circle of friends that nobody else could fill. He loved all of his friend's dearly. Misty, Brock, Tracy, Max, May, and Dawn. All of them meant a lot to him, but he couldn't help but feel like none of his other companions could truly replace Misty. When it was just him, Brock, and Misty, the group felt so complete and so perfect. Between his "never say die" attitude, Misty's spunky nature, and Brock's generally brotherly nature, the three of them meshed together so well. They all had someone to go to if they needed help with anything. If Ash felt like he was beginning to lose his touch, Misty would fire him up and bring his confidence back. If he ever had a more complex problem, Brock was always there to help him think through the problem and give him insight on how to resolve it, and if either Brock or Misty ever felt like they should just give up, Ash would always cheer them on and raise their hopes back up. There was no leader in the original trio. All of them relied on one another to help each other get through life and all of the problems it threw at them. They were more than friends. They were a family.

However after Misty left, Ash felt like that chain was broken. He could never allow himself to lose his confidence. Knowing that if he did, then he didn't have anyone to really fire him up like Misty did in the old days. Not only that, but he also had to stay strong for his other friends as well. He had taken a mentor role with May and Dawn, so they were always looking to him for advice, which he was always more than happy to give. However it became so tiring. Now most recently after learning that Brock told him he was leaving to aspire to become a breeder, Ash had started to realize that all of his friends were no longer there to support him anymore.

But then _this_ happened. After hearing that Misty would go with him on his travels, he felt like a thousand pounds had been lifted off of his back, and that all the hindrance the past four years had thrown at him was now gone. Now that it was gone, maybe, just _maybe_ that meant the best days were still ahead.

"You're right Misty." Ash replied, unaware that he had placed his hand atop of hers. "We still have a lot of great days ahead of us."

Misty looked deep into his eyes. She could tell that her return had sparked up a fire in his heart that had remained dormant for the past four years. A fire of determination and motivation. The fire that made him want to achieve more and more until he was the very best, like no one ever was.

"I know we do Ash." Misty whispered with a warm, heartfelt smile spread across her face.

The two stared deep into each other's eyes, feeling as though they were just hypnotized by the other. Ash's deep brown eyes felt so comforting to the gym leader, while her brilliant green eyes felt so reassuring to Ash. As the two continued to stare at one another, both realized that this new journey ahead of them would most certainly be one of the biggest quests of their lives, and they both looked forward to it, knowing that they'd be going on this adventure together.

Suddenly, the moment was interrupted as a flash of light flared behind them, momentarily blinding the two teens as it flickered.

"Awww, that's so cute." Misty and Ash turned behind them to see that Delia was standing there, looking at the picture she had just taken. "That is so romantic." She awed as she adored the picture of her son and Misty hand in hand, silhouetted against the bright full moon.

"M..Mom!" Ash shouted, his face turning a bright red. Misty's face turned a shade red as well, though she couldn't help but just laugh and giggle. "Give me that camera, Mom!" Ash cried out as he got up and tried to take the camera from his Mom, but proved unsuccessful.

Misty stood up from the spot she had been sitting in, feeling as though she could now finally get some sleep. "Goodnight Ash." She said as she gave him a light hug from behind, though he seemed unaware of this since all of his attention was diverted towards his Mom and the camera.

"Yeah, goodnight Mist." He said, not paying much attention to her as he continued to try to snatch the camera out of his Mom's surprisingly fast hands.

Misty rolled her eyes as she walked back inside. "Moron."

_But I've really missed that moron. _

* * *

Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Just letting you guys know. The next two chapters aren't going to be very action packed. It's a bit of a necessary evil as I still have to get them prepared for their trip, and also get them to the Zerra Region, and then go into a bit of depth in explaining a certain "twist" on the region's league.

As for future updates, you can expect for me to be posting a chapter every day or at least every other day, up to chapter nine since they're already done and are just in need of revision. After that, updates may or may not take longer, as I want to be sure to deliver my best quality of work to you.

Oh, and for any of you who didn't understand the "Mistletoe Incident", it was a reference to a cute little song from the Pokémon Christmas album called "Under the Mistletoe". It's a cute song to play around Christmas time, especially if you're spending it with your girlfriend or boyfriend and you're both fans of Pokémon.

Well, till tomorrow (or possibly the day after). Stay classy internet.


	3. The Team of a Champion

Well, here's the next chapter. Well, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is I decided to split up one chapter that I felt was overly long into two chapters, meaning you should be receiving daily updates up to chapter 10 instead of chapter 9. The bad news is that this means another chapter before the action starts to pick up.

As for this chapter though, I felt that this was initially a pretty bad chapter when I first wrote it, so it has faced A LOT of reconstruction. I hope that I fixed all of the careless mistakes I made throughout this when I first wrote it. Also, this chapter had some terrible pacing in its first draft, but hopefully that has been fixed in this version.

And lastly I can give you an estimate on how many chapters this story will be. From what I can tell it should be somewhere between 35-40 chapters, possibly a little more.

But enough of my talking. Enjoy!

* * *

Ash wiped his eyes as the rays of the morning sun began to peak through his bedroom window, stretching and yawning as he awakened. He felt a thud on his stomach from Pikachu hopping onto him, before running up to his face and licking him on the nose. "Hey stop it, that tickles!" He laughed., Pikachu then quit licking his master in favor of brushing his cheek against his trainer's. "So how'd ya sleep?"

"Pika pi!" Judging by the mouse's exuberance, it was safe to assume that he had slept well.

"Only a few more days till we get to go to Zerra!" He cried out, unable to get the thought of his upcoming adventure out of his mind.

"Pika!"

"Are you excited?" The question was a bit redundant, but he loved seeing Pikachu's enthusiasm.

"Pikachu!" The electric rodent began jumping up and down excitedly.

Ash started to scratch his loyal Pokémon behind the ears, causing the mouse to fall onto his back and start kicking his left leg. It was moments like these that they both cherished. Winning battles was always important to them, but the times they could just play and have fun is what the two lived for.

As the two bonded, the trainer heard a creak from his bedroom door. He stopped petting Pikachu and looked up to see his Mom standing before him. "Ash," His Mother's soft voice traveled across the room and into his ears. "Misty said something about you having to get your Pokémon from Professor Oak." For a moment Ash was a bit perplexed. He looked over at his nightstand to see that his Poké Ball belt was sitting there with five of the red and white spheres strapped to it.

"But I already have…" He stopped mid sentence. "Oh." The trainer thought back to the conversation he and Misty had the night before.

"_You know Ash, if this league is going to be filled with trainers who've already made it to the top eight, you might want to make sure you bring your strongest Pokémon."_

Normally Ash returned all of his Pokémon except for Pikachu before traveling to a new region, but Misty had a point. If these other trainers had already made it to the top eight in their respective leagues, then that would probably mean they all had some extremely powerful Pokémon. Ash would need to gather his strongest Pokémon team together if he wanted to stand half a chance in the Master League, and if he needed his most powerful Pokémon, first and foremost he'd need to get Charizard back.

XXXXXXXXXX

The trainer and his electric starter hiked their way up the steep dirt path leading to Professor Oak's lab. It had been a long time since Ash had been to the Professor's lab. He felt a sense of nostalgia as he made his way up the path. He began thinking back to the day he ran all the way here in his pajamas, desperately hoping that there was still a Pokémon starter he could use. In hindsight though, that may have been the best mistake he had ever made. If he hadn't slept in, he wouldn't have gotten Pikachu, he wouldn't have blown up Misty's bike, and he probably would've decimated Brock's Onix with the Squirtle he was originally going to pick, and probably would have ended up traveling through Kanto alone.

"Thanks Pikachu." Ash said, looking down at his friend.

"Pika?" He gave his trainer a puzzled look.

Not bothering to explain what his thanks was for, Ash approached the lab's front door. He reached for the doorknob, but before his gloved hand could even grasp the brass handle, the door opened, revealing Professor Oak standing on the other side.

"Oh, uh hey Professor." Ash stammered a bit, surprised to see Oak already waiting at the door. "I just wanted to ask you if-"

"You could set up your team?" the Pokémon Professor finished his sentence.

"Uh, yeah." He paused for a moment. "I was also-"

"Wanting to get Charizard back?"

_Is he psychic?_

"Don't worry Ash," The professor continued. "I've already called Liza in the Charicfic Valley. He should be arriving here soon." He said in as he motioned for Ash to come into the lab. The inside of his lab hadn't changed much since Ash started his journey over six years ago. The cylinder shaped device that housed starter Pokémon for new trainers was still there, as well as the giant Poké Ball teleporter.

"You should be quite proud of yourself, Ash." The Pokémon expert congratulated as he walked up next to the teleporter. "Although, it certainly didn't come as any surprise." He leaned himself against the counter, waiting for Ash's fire type to arrive. "Mr. Goodshow seemed very eager to see you compete in the Master League."

"So you _did_ know about this?" Ash's suspicions were finally confirmed.

The professor nodded. "Of course I knew about this, I'm Kanto's most respected Pokémon expert." He said in a somewhat boastful tone. After saying this, a light began to emit from the teleporter. The two looked over at the expensive piece of equipment as it began to hum. After a moment, the light dimmed down, and in its place was a Poké Ball sitting inside of the teleporter's dome shaped slot.

"Charizard!" Ash cried out with glee as he grabbed the Poké Ball containing his most powerful friend. He was tempted to open it up, but then it occurred to the black haired trainer that releasing a fire breathing dragon inside of a laboratory with millions of dollars worth of equipment wasn't the best idea in the world.

"What about the other Pokémon you'll be taking with you?" Oak asked as he walked over to a metallic drawer. He then opened the drawer, revealing forty six Poké Balls, all sorted into rows of five and columns of ten, with four of the slots in the top right corner remaining empty. "Take your pick." The professor said with a smile on his face.

Upon seeing all of the Poké Balls, Ash couldn't help but admire how many Pokémon he had caught since his journey began. "I didn't know that I had so many Pokémon." He said in wonderment.

Oak snickered. "Well keep in mind that thirty of those are the Tauros you caught in the Safari Zone."

Ash frowned from the disappointment of realizing this. "Oh yeah. I forgot about that part." The trainer scanned up and down the drawer, looking at the labels under each Poké Ball. "I'm going to need Sceptile." He said as he reached for the grass lizard's Poké Ball. He continued to skim across the red and white orbs, being sure to take Totodile as well, since he'd need a strong water type. He scanned up and down some more, reading each label carefully before coming to a decision. "Gliscor." He said, picking up the ground and flying type's Poké Ball. He now had four Pokémon, five if he counted Pikachu. However as he looked at all the Poké Balls that laid before him, he couldn't decide which one would be his sixth. He already had Charizard, so Infernape wouldn't be needed. Sceptile was stronger than Bulbasaur (though he'd never say that aloud), and most of his other Pokémon still needed a bit more training.

"You know," the Professor spoke up. "your Gible is the only Pokémon you have that can evolve into a pseudo-legendary Pokémon."

"Pseudo-legendary?" He turned to the professor with a puzzled look.

"Yes Ash," Oak began to explain. "pseudo-legendary Pokémon are some of the most powerful Pokémon in the world, only seconded by legendary Pokémon themselves." Ash's eyes widened upon hearing this. "There are six known pseudo-legendary Pokémon." Oak's explanation began to turn into a lecture. "Dragonite, Tyranitar, Salamence, Metagross, and Garchomp, which your Gible can evolve to." He explained as he walked up next to Ash and picked up Gible's Poké Ball.

"I thought you said there were six?"

"Well yes," Oak replied as he handed the sphere to Ash, seemingly picking the Pokémon for him. "but the sixth one is only native to the Unova Region." His face became quite serious. "And I hope you never have to face one of those."

"Well do they have a name?" For once Ash was taking interest in one of his lectures.

"Of course they do." Oak seemed the faintest bit annoyed at such a question. "They're called Hydreigons."

"Hydreigon." Ash said to himself as he snapped Gible's Poké Ball onto his belt, deciding to take the little dragon type with him. "That _sounds_ dangerous."

"Pika." Pikachu added, his tone a bit concerned.

"Well, good thing you'll never see one of those here." Oak said in a care free voice, making a jarring turnaround from the serious attitude he carried during his little lecture.

Ash looked down at his Poké Balls, now seeing that he had a full team. "Well I guess I'll catch ya later, Professor." He said as he began to exit the lab. However before he could leave, he was stopped when the Pokémon expert called out to him.

"Wait, I need to give you these." Oak handed two Poké Balls to Ash.

"What are these for?" He asked with a puzzled look as he took the two red and white orbs.

"These are Misty's Sartmie and Gyarados. Her sisters sent them earlier today." Oak paused and smiled. "They're very sweet girls by the way."

Ash couldn't help but snicker.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Look, all I'm saying is you need to like, chill out." Daisy said trying to pacify her sister's increasingly growing rage over the video-phone. Her attempt was proving futile.

"I'll chill out when you quit calling Ash my boyfriend!" Her voice boomed into the receiver. Misty was all alone in the Ketchum household. Delia had been at work, and Ash had left for Professor Oak's lab. With that in mind, Misty didn't even bother to keep her conversation hushed.

"Look, all I'm saying is that like, you've been acting really giddy since you called a few nights ago." Misty glared at her eldest sister through the screen as Daisy continued talking. "And quit saying you don't like him like that. Remember all the letters you sent us when you were a kid, talking about how cute you thought he was?"

Misty's face turned red, part of it was from her blushing, the other part was from her beginning to fume with anger. "What? Can't I just think a friend is cute? He's said I was pretty before, but that doesn't mean we're a couple!"

Daisy's mouth made an "O" shape and her eyes became bubbly. "Aww, that's _so_ sweet!" That was not the reaction Misty was trying to get from her.

The redhead took a deep breath, and closed her eyes, trying to regain her composure. "Look," She started. "Just because he's my friend, who happens to be a boy, does not mean he's my boyfriend." She couldn't help but feel as though she had said those exact same words to someone else before.

Daisy snickered. "Yeah right, and that kiss you tried giving him at that Christmas party was supposed to be friendly, huh?"

_Why does everyone keep bringing that up?_

"I was twelve!" She snapped. "I was just a stupid little kid!"

Daisy leaned back in her chair with a big smirk. "So you _did _have a crush on him?" It wasn't a question as much as it was an accusation.

Misty looked down at her feet and sighed, realizing she couldn't keep lying on the spot like this. "Yes," she spoke truthfully. "I _did_ have a crush on Ash when we were kids." She then turned her glare back towards her sister on the screen. "Are you happy now?" The gym leader hoped that would be the end of it, but her sister unsurprisingly, wouldn't let it go.

"Ha!" She laughed as she pointed at Misty through the screen. "I knew it!"

Misty rolled her eyes. "I don't need this. I'll talk to you later Daisy" Not even allowing her sister to retort, she hung up the phone, causing the screen to go black. The redhead leaned back in her chair, lifting the chair's front legs off the ground, and keeping her balance by pushing her legs against the underside of the desk. She let out a deep breath as she looked up at the ceiling.

"What was all that about?" A familiar voice carried across the room. Misty instantly felt a chill run up her spine, as she quickly realized who the voice belonged to. The surprise caused her to jump, making her legs shift out from under the desk, in turn causing her chair to fall backwards. Smashing against the wooden floor, making a loud _thud_.

Misty rolled her head back after falling, allowing her to see Ash's black and red shoes. Her eyes traveled up, or down from her relative perspective, and could see that the black haired trainer was staring down at her with a slightly worried expression.

"Are you alright?" He asked as he reached out to help her up.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She quickly reassured, trying to hide her blush caused by sheer embarrassment. "Uh, h..how long were you standing there?" She stuttered.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Not long. I just got home from Professor Oak's."

She let out a quiet sigh of relief as she got back onto her feet.

"Why do you ask?"

Her heart began to skip a beat or two as another blush overtook her face. "No reason!" Her voice came out a lot more defensive than she intended.

Ash narrowed his eyes, puzzled by the intensity of her reaction. "Whatever," he shrugged. "Well, I just wanted to give you these." He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out two shrunken Poké Balls. "The professor said your sister's sent you these."

Misty looked down at the two spheres, already knowing what they were. "Thanks Ash." she nodded as she took the two red and white orbs from his hand.

"So what were you and Daisy talking about anyways?" The trainer asked, regarding the phone call.

Misty's blush returned once again, this time much brighter than before. "T..that's none of your business!" She then quickly stormed out of the room, and made her way upstairs, presumably to the guest bedroom. Ash kept a puzzled look as he watched her dash away.

_Girls are weird._

XXXXXXXXXX

"Yeah Dawn, sorry about hanging up on you like that." Ash spoke into his cell phone as he laid on his bed, looking out his bedroom window. "It's just I haven't seen Misty in almost two years."

"It's fine Ash," his former traveling companion replied. "I was just a little worried, that's all."

"Well, sorry to worry you like that." He apologized as he gazed out his window, observing the rolling mountains that went on for miles and miles.

"So," She said, getting ready to change the topic of conversation. "tell me about this Master League thing?"

The trainer bit down on his lip. "I don't really know, honestly. All I know is that the competition is going to be really tough. I even had to call Charizard back."

"Oh wow, I wish I was there to see that." Dawn had never actually seen Ash's Charizard before, but the stories she'd heard about it made him sound like some sort of legend. Even the story of how he evolved was worth noting. She found it so cool to hear that the fire type evolved into a Charizard _just_ so it could chase down an Aerodactyl that made him angry.

"Yeah, I wish you could see him too." Ash replied. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see me use him in the championship."

"Yeah, I guess." She sighed. "What about your other Pokémon?"

The trainer looked down at his belt and frowned. He had a good team with him, but for some reason he couldn't help but feel there could have been another member of his team that would have optimized his load out to its fullest potential.

He looked out his window, and gazed at the forest covered mountains. Off in the distance he could see a flock of Pidgey soaring across the sky. The trainer continued to watch on as the large group of bird Pokémon descended into the trees, and vanished behind the bright green leaves. A thought then began to dawn on him.

"Ash, are you there?" Dawn's voice came through to him, taking the black haired trainer out of his trance.

"Uh, yeah." He paused. "Hey Dawn, I'll have to get back to you on that. I just remembered there's an errand I have to go run."

Dawn seemed a bit puzzled by his sudden leaving. "Um.. Okay? I guess I'll talk to you later then?"

"Yeah." He answered plainly. "Bye."

"Bye." Dawn still sounded the slightest bit confused as the call ended.

Ash flipped his phone closed, and looked over at the wooden drawer under his nightstand. He got up off his bed and opened the wooden drawer, revealing three empty Poké Balls. He reached for the one in the middle, and put it in his pocket before leaving his bedroom.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ash, what are we doing out here?" Misty asked as she followed the trainer and his Pikachu through the thickly forested area of Route 1.

He looked back at the gym leader and grinned. "We're going to see an old friend."

Misty gave him a perplexed look. "I don't follow."

"Just watch." He said as they both came to a stop in the middle of the thick forest. The trainer looked up and placed his hands around his mouth to help project his voice. "Hey!" He shouted, his voice echoing throughout the woods.

"Ash!" Misty snapped. "What are you doing? Do you want for some wild Fearow to find us?"

He turned to the gym leader and gave her a little wink. "Just trust me on this." He then turned away from her and continued shouting into the forest. "Hey! I'm here! Just like I said I'd be!"

Misty's eyes widened. "He's not doing what I think he's doing, is he?"

Ash continued shouting into the woods for almost ten minutes, his voice growing more and more hoarse with each shout he made. Yet, despite his efforts, there was no response.

"Ash," Misty said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think he's coming."

He turned to her, not a shred of doubt on his face. "He'll come, just trust me."

She shook her head. "Ash, it's been five years, I don't think he's coming ba-"

There was a sudden ruffle in the trees surrounding the two. Both of the teens and the little yellow Pokémon looked up to see that there was some sort of commotion going on behind all the leaves. A huge smile began to cross Ash's face upon seeing this. "I knew he'd come!"

From the trees, a large flock of Pidgey and Pidgeottos began descending from the branches they were perched on, and encircled the two teens as they landed on the grassy surface. Misty felt a bit of an uneasy feeling as she saw the large group of birds surround them. Ash on the other hand seemed almost overjoyed.

"Pidgey. Pidgey." The birds chirped, staring at the two trainers. They didn't seem to have any malicious intent in their eyes, but they certainly didn't seem all that happy about them coming into their home territory.

"Ash," Misty nudged his shoulder. "we should probably get out of here before something bad happens."

Ash shook his head. "You can go Misty, but I'm not leaving until I get to see…" Before he could finish his sentence, he was stopped by a loud caw that could be heard coming from above the trees, causing all of the chirps from the Pidgey and Pidgeottos to cease.

"No way." Misty looked up in disbelief as a bird shaped silhouette soared over them. The giant bird then began to slowly descend towards the two trainers, flapping its massive wings to soften the landing.

Before the two teens stood a large bird Pokémon. His feathers long and glossy, and the yellow and red feathers on its head-crest trailed down its back like a beautiful headdress. "Pidgeot!" It cried out upon seeing the two. After hearing his call, all of the Pidgey and Pidgeottos flew next to their leader's side, and idly waited for his next command.

"Pidgeot!" Ash cried out as he ran towards the giant bird Pokémon, finally being reunited with his old friend. "I've missed you so much!" He cried as he wrapped his arms around the bird, giving him a hug. However, the leader of the flock pushed the trainer away with one of his wings, leaving Ash with a bewildered expression.

"Pidgeot." The flying type shook his head.

"W..what?" Ash couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Ash," Misty walked up next to him. "It's been years since you let him go. You don't think he'll just put his life on hold to go with you? Do you?"

He hadn't thought about that. It had been years since Pidgeot was left here to watch over the flock. Even though Ash did promise to come back for him one day, that was years ago, and his old friend had probably made a new life for himself since then.

A tear began to drip down his cheek. "You mean that, you don't want to come with us?" He looked over at the second Pokémon he ever caught, trying to hide his sorrow. The bird looked down at the ground for a moment, before looking back up at Ash, and shaking his head. "I..I understand." He said, whipping a tear from his eye. "I'm sorry for bothering you." Ash turned around and began to trudge away, Misty placing a reassuring hand on his back as she walked with him. It wasn't that he was upset that Pidgeot had found a new life, what upset him was how coldly his old friend treated him. Though, he was quite deserving of that. Five years ago he promised that he'd come back soon for him, and even he couldn't deny that "soon" had long since passed. He made a promise that he never kept, and as such, he had probably lost a great friend because of that. "I'm sorry Pidgeot." he whispered to himself.

The bird watched the two trainers walk away. He then turned to his fellow Pidgey and Pidgeottos, and then back towards his old trainer, contemplating on the decision he had to make. "Pidgeot!" It cried out, causing his old friends to turn around. Once he had gotten their attention, he turned his back to them, and lowered himself to the ground, with his wings spread.

"Ash," Misty said as she looked at the magnificent bird. "I think he wants to take us somewhere." The black haired trainer nodded, and the two slowly began to approach him.

"Do you want to take us somewhere Pidgeot?" He asked. His old Pokémon gave a nod. Accepting his offer, the two teens took a seat on the massive bird's back, and held onto his feathers as he started to lift himself in the air, having to flap extra hard to lift up the extra weight.

"Where do you think he's taking us?" Misty asked as they began to ascend above the trees.

"I don't know." Ash replied.

Pidgeot began to soar across the sky, flying over Route 1's thick forest. Both Ash and Misty looked on at the sight before them, observing the beautiful sea of green below, and the brilliant cloudy blue sky above, and off towards Mount Silver, they could see the sun was just beginning to hide behind it's peak, adding an almost heavenly brilliance to the mountain.

As Pidgeot began to descend, Ash nudged his redheaded friend. "Misty, I think he's taking us down here somewhere." The black haired trainer pointed towards a tree that stood significantly taller than all of the others. Sure enough, the bird Pokémon touched down onto the giant tree, landing on a branch that was thick enough to support him, both the trainers, and Pikachu.

As they stepped off of the bird, Pidgeot waved his head towards a nest that rested on the branch. Ash and Misty both looked at each other, unsure if they should go near the nest, especially with how protective they knew bird Pokémon could be over their young. However, after receiving another wave from Pidgeot, the two decided to cautiously follow him.

As the two approached the nest, they peaked over the wooden bed to see that inside of it were three baby Pidgey. Misty's eyes lit up upon seeing the cute little baby birds. "They're so cute!" She squeaked, resisting the urge to pick them up, knowing that was one of the things you _never_ did with a baby bird.

Ash looked over at his old friend. "Are these your kids?" Pidgeot nodded, and then leaned over the babies, nuzzling one of them.

Pikachu looked up and saw there was another Pidgeot flying towards the nest. "Pika pi!" He tugged on his trainer's jeans.

"What is it Pikachu?" He looked to see where he was pointing, and saw the beautiful bird soar towards the nest, landing right next to his Pidgeot.

The second Pidgeot glared at the two trainers, wondering what they were doing near her nest. Had her mate not seemed so calm about the two being there, she would have most certainly attacked them on sight. "Pidgeot!" She cried out, directing towards her mate, her wings raised.

"Uh oh." Misty said as she stepped back from the nest.

"What's going on?" Ash seemed a bit puzzled.

"I don't think mommy is too happy to see us near her nest." She gulped.

Ash looked at Pidgeot, who was being scolded by his mate. The mother didn't seem the slightest bit happy with his old friend for bringing them to the nest. Though Ash couldn't understand what she was saying, her tone and body language were more than enough for him to understand the point she was trying to get across.

Ash's Pidgeot merely retorted with some sheepish chirps, his head tilted down. "Wow," Ash said. "It sure looks like Pidgeot's in the dog house." He paused. "Or the bird house for that matter." He couldn't resist.

Misty rolled her eyes.

After she was finished scolding Pidgeot, the mother of the nest turned to Ash and Misty, glaring at them, seemingly demanding an explanation as to why they were there.

Ash gulped, knowing that he had to explain himself. "You see Mrs.," He started. "we're good friends of Pidgeot, and we were wondering if he could go with us on a journey with us." He paused, and looked over at the nest. "But now that he's made a life here, I can't pull him away from that." He turned back to her. "So we're really sorry for intruding, and we won't ever bother you again." He tried to sound as apologetic as possible, hoping that she wouldn't hold a grudge against them.

After hearing this, the mother turned back to her mate, and the two began chirping back and forth. Though she didn't seem happy with Pidgeot, she didn't seem angry with him anymore either. Since the powerful emotions had died down, it was impossible for Ash and Misty to decipher what the two birds were saying.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Misty asked, as she leaned over towards Ash.

He shook his head. "I don't know."

Pidgeot had been trying his best to convince his mate to let him go on this journey with Ash, promising to return once it was over. For years he had been watching over the flock, and since he arrived, many more Pidgeots had risen and could easily protect the flock just as well as he could. Though leaving would mean that he'd miss out on seeing his young fly for the first time, and getting to be there for their first hunt. He knew that his mate was more than capable of raising the three babies though, at least until he came back. He knew that the decision was slightly selfish, but he knew that if he left with Ash, he would come back stronger, and that would allow for the flock to grow even more.

Though it took a lot of convening, after going back and forth with his mate for a bit she finally conceded, and gave her blessings for him to go on one more journey with his old friend. Pidgeot's eyes lit up upon hearing this. He quickly turned to his old trainer and cawed out in joy as he began to nuzzle on the black haired trainer's chest.

"Huh, what's going on?" Ash was surprised by this, as Pidgeot had never exactly been one to be very embracive of his trainer.

"Ash!" Misty cried out. "I think he can come with us!"

"Really?" Ash's voice began to light up when he heard her say this. "You can come with us?" He looked down at his friend, a smile spread across his face.

"Pidgeot!" He cried out, signifying his answer.

Ash felt a warm feeling bubble up in his stomach. "This is great!" He wrapped his arms around his friend, embracing him in a hug, this time not being pushed away. However, he could feel that his bird Pokémon's attention had been diverted by something. Ash looked over at his mate, who's eyes had began to water.

Pidgeot pulled himself away from Ash, and walked over to his mate. The two looked at each other for a moment, before finally nuzzling against one another, each of them feeling a tear graze their cheeks as they did so. He then looked down at the chirping babies, and leaned down to nuzzle all three of them before leaving, promising to be back soon. Misty couldn't help but tear up a bit at the sight.

Once he had said his goodbyes to his family, he turned back towards his old friends, and gave them both a nod. Ash, Misty, and Pikachu then climbed onto his back, and prepared for the flight back to Pallet Town.

"We'll bring him back soon." Ash reassured Pidgeot's mate. "I promise." She gave Ash a nod, followed by a faint chirp. With that, Ash's magnificent bird lifted off from the tree, and began to fly away. As the great bird soared across the sky, Ash, Misty, and Pikachu could hear the sound of chirping and cawing behind them.

"Look, Ash!" Misty tugged on his shoulder.

"What is it?" He asked turning around to face Misty."

"Look!" She pointed behind them, where a large flock of Pidgy, Pidgeottos, and Pidgeots followed closely behind them, cawing and chirping as they followed their leader one last time before he made his departure. "I think they're saying goodbye."

A smile crossed Ash's face at the sight. "Pidgeot, did you hear that?" He turned to his friend, and spoke directly into his ear, making sure he heard him. "They're saying goodbye!"

"Pidgeot?" The leader of the flock turned his head to see that his entire flock was flying behind him, and flying at the very front was none other than his mate. She sped up, being sure she could catch up to Pidgeot before he left, and flew alongside him.

"Oh that's so romantic!" Misty began to tear up again.

Pidgeot and his mate made eye contact once more, exchanging cooing chirps with one another as they soared through the sky. Ash could see a tear trickle from his friend's eyes as he did this. Once Pidgeot flew past the sea of trees, and began flying over the rolling hills of Pallet Town though, his flock stopped following him, but continued chirping and cawing, wishing him a safe and triumphant return.

* * *

Well pack your bags everybody, next chapter we're going to Zerra!…. But don't pack any Poké Balls, cause there aren't going to be any battles yet. As you can tell I am really itching to get to the action chapters, but bare with me, they're coming soon.

Other than that, there isn't too much to talk about regarding upcoming chapters without going into spoilers. So I'll see you guys either tomorrow or the day after that.

Till then, See ya!


	4. Next Stop: Zerra!

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you who have been giving me feedback on this story, your opinions have meant quite a bit to me.

There really isn't too much to say about this chapter, other than we're finally going to Zerra….. And we still have one more chapter after this before anything remotely involving action happens. Sorry, I'm just itching for a Pokémon Battle. It does however involve some development between Ash and Misty, but I'm not going to spoil anything.

Enjoy!

* * *

Before the sun had even begun to rise, Ash and Misty were already packed, dressed, and ready to go. Their plane was scheduled to leave from Pallet Airport at 8:15 A.M., but due to security and customs, they needed to be there about two hours ahead of time. The two teens met up with each other in the living room, Misty drinking a cup of coffee while Ash and Pikachu struggled to keep their eyes open.

"You know, some coffee might help you wake up." Misty suggested as she took another sip of the steaming hot drink.

Ash shook his head. "I can't stand that stuff." He let out a yawn. "It tastes nasty." He then plopped down on the couch, fighting the urge to close his eyes.

Misty let out a sigh. "Suit yourself."

After a minute or so of the two teens idly waiting for Ash's mother, the door to Delia's bedroom finaly opened. Misty, and Pikachu turned their attention towards her as she entered the living room, dressed and ready to drive the two to the airport. It was quite apparent that she was not very excited about her baby boy going on another adventure so soon, but she did at least take a little bit of comfort in knowing that he wouldn't be all the way across the planet in Unova, and he'd also be traveling with Misty, whom of all of Ash's friends, she trusted the most.

"Are you two ready?" She asked the two teens sheepishly.

"Sure am!" Misty's voice was filled with enthusiasm.

"Pika!"

"Zzzzzzzz." The redhead smacked Ash on the back of the head, taking him out of dreamland. "Huh, what? Yeah, yeah, sure." Ash answered as his eyes began to shut once more.

"C'mon sleepyhead." Misty grabbed the trainer by the collar and pulled him onto his feet. Ash's eyes began to slowly open as she did so. Once the redhead felt he was awake enough to stand on his own, she let go of his collar. Though he remained standing, it seemed like he was functioning on autopilot.

Seeing her son was at least functioning, Delia led the way out of the front door, while Misty remained behind Ash just to make sure that if he started to doze off while walking to the car, she could just nudge him in the back to wake him up.

Delia unlocked the old station wagon that sat in the front yard of the Ketchum's home, allowing for Ash, Misty, and Pikachu to take a seat in the back. Delia opened the drivers door, and took a seat. She looked into the rearview mirror, making sure Ash and Misty were buckled up. Seeing that both of the teens and even the little Pikachu were safely strapped in, she stuck the key into the ignition and started up the car. Upon looking back into her mirror before backing out, she saw that Ash had once again fallen asleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

The Pallet Town airport was anything but crowded. There were only seven terminals in the entire airport, and all of the flights were interregional. This meant that Ash and Misty would have to take a flight to Cinnabar Island, and catch another flight to Crestpeak City. If all went well, they'd be in Zerra by noon.

Both of them had already gone through customs, and just needed to get through security. This was the part Ash was dreading the most. Not because he hated the process (which he did), but because this was the farthest his Mom could go with him. It wasn't so bad for Ash, he had spent over a quarter of his life on the road, trying to become a Pokémon Master. However, whenever he left home to go travel again, his Mother normally wasn't as excited as he was.

"Oh Ash." Delia cried as she wrapped her arms around him in the same vice grip hug she had used on him earlier that week. "Promise you'll be safe, okay?" Ash tried to speak but couldn't due to his lungs being compressed by her arms. "Ash, please promise me." She demanded him to reply as a tear trickled down her cheek.

"Uh, Mrs. Ketchum?" Delia felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see that the Cerulean Gym Leader was standing behind her, pointing towards Ash. "I don't think he can breath." Delia then took a moment to look at her baby boy's face to see that he was making the same expression someone drowning would make.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear." She said sheepishly as her grip on him loosened .

"It's alright Mom." Ash took a deep breath. "I'll be fine, I promise."

Delia then caught Ash off guard as she gave him another hug, tears pouring from her eyes. "I'm going to miss you _so_ much Ash!" She cried as she began crushing his lungs once again.

"It's alright Mom, really." He reassured, trying to slip out of her grip, only to be brought back in even tighter.

"You've just grown up so fast!" Another tear fell from her weeping eyes. "I know that you'll go on to do great things in Zerra, I just know it!"

"Gee, thanks Mom." Ash thanked her, hoping that she would let go once he did.

She didn't.

"Now you take care okay?" His Mom asked what seemed to be the final question, since her grip started to loosen.

"Of course Mom." He answered with a sincere smile.

His Mother wiped away a tear with the back of her palm, and gave her son a slight nod. She then turned her attention to the redhead, and gave her a much lighter hug, which Misty was more than happy to return.

"I know you'll take good care of Ash." Delia said as she patted Misty on the back.

"Hey! I can take care of myself!" Despite his exclamation, he remained completely ignored by the two.

"I'll make sure he doesn't do anything stupid Mrs. Ketchum, I promise." With that, the two loosened their grips on one another, and exchanged smiles.

Delia turned back to Ash and wiped away yet another series of tears. "And Ash," She said, her emotions finally starting to balance out. "remember to change your underwe-"

"I know! I know! I know!" Ash screamed, embarrassed that she would say something like that not only in front of Misty, but in the middle of an albeit rather empty airport, but an airport none the less. Ash could see his redheaded friend standing behind his Mom, giggling.

"Yeah Ashy, be sure to change your underwear everyday." She teased, causing the trainer's face to turn crimson.

"I think we need to get going." Ash snarled, beaming at Misty.

"You two be careful!" Delia cried out, trying to fight back anymore tears that she had left to weep as she watched the two teens and the Pikachu make their way towards the security checks. "Call me when you get there!" She shouted, catching her son's attention one more time. "I love you!" After that a small crowd of people moved between Ash and his Mom, obstructing their view of each other completely.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ash, Ash wake up."

"Huh?" Ash's eyes slowly opened after Misty started poking him on the shoulder. "What is it?" He asked as he stretched his arms out. He had fallen out of consciousness sometime before the plane from Cinnabar Island had flown over Hoenn, and was unsure how long ago that was.

"We're here!" Misty squealed, pointing out the window he was sitting next to. Ash looked out the window to see a massive metropolis that sat in the middle of a large valley. Many of the buildings were massive, and all uniquely shaped. None of them seemed to have the same blocky, rectangular shape that most other skyscrapers had. These had almost an organic feel to them. Most notably of all, was the one that stood tallest. It was a tall cobalt colored tower that emerged from the center of the city. As the floors became farther from the ground, the tower began to narrow into a peak, creating a smooth transition from a rectangular base to a rounded point.

"Oh wow, is _that _the P.L.A. Tower?" The black haired trainer asked as he pointed towards the large cobalt spire.

"Sure is." Misty answered as she placed her head next to Ash's so they could both get a decent view from the window. "Isn't it beautiful, Ash?" Her voice was filled with wonderment.

Though it was still noon, it was said when nightfall came the city would truly come alive as brilliant neon lights would brighten the metropolis, and the nightlife of the city was said to be just as lively. Misty's eyes began to glow at the very thought of it.

Ash shook his head. "I don't see what's so special about it." Misty glared at him after hearing this, though he seemed to be oblivious to this. "I mean why would someone want to build something that tall anyways?"

Misty smacked him on the back of the head. "It's called structural marvels. Anyone with half a brain would know that!"

"Marvel?" Ash gave Misty puzzled look. "I thought they made comic books. I didn't know they made buildings too!"

Misty was about to smash her palm against her forehead for the second time in a week, but instead decided to smack Ash's forehead with it. "You're such an idiot."

The trainer shook off the smack to the forehead and quickly shot back at her with another remark. "Well sorry, but I've got better things to do than ogle some tall buildings."

"Ash, just shut up." Misty sighed as she leaned away from the window and back into her seat. Instead of coming up with another comeback, Ash simply crossed his arms and gave her a nasty look when the gym leader turned her head away from him.

"We will be landing in Crestpeak City Airport in just a moment, folks." The pilot announced over the intercom.

_Good, I don't think I could stand another second sitting next to this numbskull._

"Hey, what was that for?" Ash cried out.

Misty shook her head for a second, trying to figure out what Ash was talking about. After one look at his face though, she realized she had spoken aloud what she meant to say mentally. There actually was a small frown across the trainer's face. Him and Misty argued all the time, but it was more endearing than anything. Not once had Ash ever wished that Misty would just go away. Even when she first started following him, and nagging him about her bike, he never really _wanted _for her to go away. Ash always assumed that Misty felt the same way too.

"You don't _really_ want to get away from me already, do you?" His tone wasn't very doleful, but there was a faint hint of worry.

Misty rolled her eyes. "Of course not Ash." She sighed. "It's just you can be _really_ dense sometimes."

"My Mom always said I just took more time to learn things than others!"

She rolled her eyes once more. "That's what it means to be dense."

"Oh."

Misty cracked a small grin, once again finding his dense nature to be kind of cute.

XXXXXXXXXX

The duo opened the door to the hotel room that the Pokémon League was kind enough to pay for. Though it was only a one time thing, the thought of getting to spend at least one night on a nice, comfy bed without having to pay for it was always something the two trainers could be happy about. The room itself was quite nice to boot. There was a forty inch flat screen t.v., two beds, a small kitchen, and a balcony that overlooked the cityscape.

"This is pretty fancy." Ash gawked in wonderment.

"Pikachu." His companion agreed.

Misty was just as pleased with the room as Ash, though most of her attention was still focused on the tourist guide she picked up back at the airport. She nosed through the little booklet, looking through all of the fancy restaurants, nightclubs, shopping centers, and even a few of the nice romantic spots. Though why on earth she would want to go to a romantic spot when the person she was traveling with wasn't even remotely knowledgeable in the art of romance was beyond her.

"So Ash," Misty called out to him as she closed the pamphlet and threw it on the nightstand next to one of the beds. "Where would you like to go tonight?"

Ash gave her a look of bewilderment. "Go out?"

"Yeah Ash." She replied. "We're here with a day before the orientation, so how about we just spend today having fun?"

Ash found the gesture thoughtful, but he wanted to prepare himself for the upcoming journey. If he was competing against trainers who made it to the top eight of their conferences, he needed to be prepared. "Thanks Mist, but I think I'll pass." He looked up at her with a smile. "You should go out and have fun though."

The redhead let out a small sigh. "Well Ash," she said in a sweet voice. "I think it would be great if you came along with me. I mean what fun is it to go out alone?"

Ash found what she said very sentimental, but he still declined. "Sorry Misty, but I really want to get ready for the orientation."

Misty bit down on her lip. "Ash, let me rephrase what I said." She inhaled, holding her breath for a moment before slowly exhaling. "Me and you are going to go out and have fun tonight. So where would you like to go?"

_She's not giving up on this is she?_

XXXXXXXXXX

"No! I don't want to go! You can't make me!" Ash screamed at the top of his lungs as he dug his fingers into the carpet, while Misty tried dragging him to the door by his feet.

"You're going to go out tonight and have fun!"

"But I don't wanna!" Ash cried out as he tried gripping his fingers around one of the legs of the bed.

"Quit whining you big baby!" She growled as she continued dragging him by the feet, causing his grip on the bed to loosen.

Pikachu looked on from atop the soft bed, completely dumbfounded by the site he was witnessing. Pikachu had never seen a conversation start out so sweetly and turn into…. This. Even Misty and Ash were somewhat taken back by this, as they had no idea how something that started out so innocent could evolve into something so vicious.

"Let go Misty!" He growled as he tried pulling himself back towards the bed. "Help me Pikachu!" Pikachu simply shook his head, knowing it would be unwise to get involved with their bickering.

"I'm not letting you go until you agree to go out and at least have a little bit of fun!" Misty barked as she drug him closer to the door.

"What did you have in mind?" Ash asked, still showing resentment in his voice, and still trying to pull himself closer to the bed.

"I was thinking we could go buy you some new cloths, those look a bit ratty!" She shouted to him as he continued screaming for her to let go.

"But that doesn't sound fun!" Ash cried. "How about we go get some ice cream instead?"

"How about we get ice cream _after_ we buy you some new cloths?" Despite how the argument had turned into negotiations, the two still continued struggling against one another.

"That sounds good." Ash finally agreed. The second he said this, Misty let go of both of his feet, making a loud _thump_ when they hit the ground, and causing Ash to grunt as he felt his entire lower body hit the carpeted floor.

"Good, lets go." Misty ordered as she grabbed Ash by the collar and pulled him back up to his feet. "C'mon Pikachu, let's go." She called out to the yellow Pokémon, while Ash got back onto his feet. Pikachu looked up at the redhead with a smile across his face, and pounced onto her shoulder

_Why does Pikachu always side with her?_

XXXXXXXXXX

The clothing store Misty chose was to say the least, not somewhere Ash wanted to be. For almost the entirety of the time there, he had been crammed inside of a changing booth while Misty would hand him cloths to wear, tell him to come out after he put them on, look at him for a second before telling him she didn't like it, and send him back in to try on something else.

"Why do you want me to do this Misty?" Ash whined from inside the booth.

"Because, those cloths you have are old, it's time for something new." She retorted as she handed another set of clothing for him to try on.

"Why do you care so much about how _I_ look?" The trainer grumbled as he took the cloths from Misty's hands, and pulled them through the cracked door of the changing booth.

"Because," She said in a somewhat snooty tone. "If some handsome guy sees me, I don't want him to think I'd associate myself with a slob like you."

Steam began to pour from Ash's ears when he heard this. "What do you mean some handsome guy!?"

Misty giggled on from the outside of the booth. "You heard me Ash. You don't think I came here to just follow _you_ around, did you? Zerra has some of the most handsome men around, and I don't want you ruining my chances with them." Though she said this jokingly, even from outside the booth, she could practically feel the heat irradiating from Ash as his rage built up to near catastrophic levels.

"I'll show you who's handsome!" Ash's voice reverberated from behind the closed door.

"Oh _really_?" Misty couldn't help but laugh at how jealous he became at the mere thought of her wanting attention from other guys. "I'd relish to see the day that a slob like you could look handso-" Ash kicked open the door to the changing booth, and stood before Misty. "Oh wow."

Misty stared at Ash, momentarily speechless due to the site that stood before her. The first thing that caught her attention was the brand new hat he wore, which utilized three of the four colors he always liked to wear. The brim of the hat was solid red, while the sides of the hat were solid black, and the center of the hat was white with a red outline of a Pokéball in the center. As for the jacket, she couldn't help but notice that it was somewhat similar to the one he wore when they first started traveling together. However, this one was a much darker blue, which complimented the black sleeves which had a single red stripe going down each sleeve. Lastly the collar was solid black, where as the original jacket's collar was white. She also took note of the fingerless gloves he wore that complimented the jacket very well. The palms of the gloves were dark red, while the dorsum of the gloves were solid black. Beneath the jacket he wore a black shirt, just like he had always worn. As Misty's eyes traveled downward, she noticed that he was wearing blue cargo pants, somewhat similar to the ones he had been wearing before. The same could be said for his shoes as well. They were more or less the same red and black shoes he wore into the store, but these were much newer and nowhere near as torn up.

"How does _this_ look?" Ash smirked as he tilted the brim of his cap at Misty, followed by a little wink.

Misty still stood there speechless, a faint blush starting to overtake her cheeks. As she felt her cheeks begin to warm up, she snapped herself back into reality. "T..that looks good on you."

Ash gave her a toothy grin. "Good, glad you like it!"

Ash made his way towards the cash register, while the gym leader remained dumbfounded at the sight she had just seen. She had always seen Ash as a cute little kid when she was growing up, but she had never thought of him as _handsome _before.

_Wow, he's grown up a lot._

"Hey Misty!" Ash shouted out to her, catching her attention. She turned to face him, seeing that he had already paid for the new wardrobe, and was going to be wearing it out of the store. "C'mon, lets go get some ice cream!"

The redhead, still slightly blushing, nodded, and followed him out of the store.

XXXXXXXXXX

Night had begun to fall onto the Electric City while Ash and Misty sat at the booth on the far end of the ice cream store. The gym leader only had a single scoop of ice cream, while Ash, of course, had four giant scoops that somehow managed to fit onto one cone.

"You're a pig, you know that Ash?" Misty joked as she took a lick from her blueberry ice cream. Ash couldn't immediately respond due to the fact that his mouth was full of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and cherry ice cream.

"I am not." He retorted after swallowing the icy dessert.

Misty rolled her eyes. "Now aren't you glad you went out tonight?"

Ash nodded cheerfully. "Yeah! I got some cool new cloths, and ice cream!" He took another bite of his cold meal. "What's not to love?"

Misty gave him a little smile as she rested her head on her free hand. "So this orientation tomorrow," She started. "Do you have any idea what they're going to be talking about?"

Ash shook his head. "No, they haven't told us anything other than they'd be explaining the differences between this league and the other leagues."

"It sounds like the same thing to me." Misty said as she took another lick of her dwindling amount of ice cream. "Go get gym badges, and compete in the championship. The only difference is that you _have_ to get your eight gym badges by a certain date, otherwise it's back to the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh leagues."

"Yeah," Ash replied. "but the League's website said there was something big they weren't telling us."

The redhead shrugged. "We'll find out tomorrow, I guess."

"Yeah, I guess so." The black haired trainer shrugged as well, taking another bite of his ice cream, which was now down to half a scoop and a cone.

"So are there any trainers you know that'll be there?" Misty asked, curious as to who else was invited.

Ash looked up at the ceiling, processing all the trainers her remembered by name from Sinnoh. "Well, I know Paul and Tobias will be there."

"Paul?" Misty tried remembering the name. "Wasn't he the purple haired guy you beat in the top eight?"

"Yeah, that's him."

"I don't like him." A scowl crossed her face. "I get the feeling he has a rotten attitude."

Ash couldn't help but laugh at the statement. Both because of how right she was, as well as how ironic it was for _her_ to be the one to judge someone for having a bad attitude. "I guess it's true what they say." Ash laughed. Misty gave him a puzzled look. "It _does_ take one to know one."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Misty's eyes glared at the trainer.

"Oh c'mon Mist." Ash chuckled. "It's not like you don't know this."

Misty kept her malicious gaze on him. "Yes, but it's still not nice to say such things to a lady."

"Whatever you say Mist." Ash shrugged as he took the final bite of his ice cream.

"Hey Ash."

"Yeah Misty?" The second Ash lowered down the half eaten cone from his face, Misty shoved the small remainder of her blueberry ice cream right onto his nose. "Ahhh!" He cried out as the cold desert smeared against his face. "What was that for?!"

"Cause I thought it'd be funny." She giggled at Ash's slight misfortune.

"If I still had ice cream I'd do the same thing to you!"

"Why do you think I waited till you finished yours first?" Misty smirked.

The black haired, now blue nosed trainer gave her a sneer as he wiped away the ice cream off of his face. And though he tried to resist, he couldn't help but lick his fingers clean after he did so. Misty chuckled at the site of seeing him lick his fingers clean.

_He's still that same kid._

XXXXXXXXXX

The two teens laughed and giggled as they entered their hotel room, while Pikachu ran towards the bed and curled into a ball on one of the pillows. The whole way back, the two had been talking about their old adventures from when they were kids. From the time they went to the Safari Zone and ran into the kid who was raised by Kangaskhan, to the time when they saved the world after the three legendary birds began to run amuck.

"Let's also not forget that creepy Macy girl who was obsessed with you." The gym leader brought up jokingly as she tossed her red backpack on the bed Pikachu was sleeping on.

After hearing that girl's name, Ash rolled his eyes. "Well remember the time you went all goo goo for that Danny guy back in the Orange Isles?"

Misty turned a bit flushed. "Well he was cute." She defended. Ash felt a bit of an uneasy sensation in his stomach, the same uneasy feeling he had when Misty was ogling Danny all those years ago. "But I was _way_ more interested in someone else at the time." Misty giggled and gave a wink.

Ash found himself a bit bewildered by her last statement. "Huh?" He looked at Misty, expecting her to explain what she meant. When she didn't, Ash asked her to elaborate. "What d'ya mean Misty?"

She rolled her eyes. "Nothing Ash." She said in an almost sing-song voice. She then made her way towards the glass door leading to the balcony.

"What do you mean "nothing"?!" He called out to her as he followed the redhead onto the balcony. The second he stepped outside though, Ash was taken back by how beautiful the nighttime cityscape was. The sky scrappers were all shining brilliantly with neon lights that emitted beautiful shades of yellow, green, red, and blue. The trainer had never thought of cities as looking beautiful before, but the sight before him was undoubtedly astonishing to say the least.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Misty wooed as she leaned on the metal railing of the balcony.

Ash gave her a nod. "It sure is." Astonishment filled his voice.

She gave him a friendly smirk. "I told you."

The black haired trainer just continued gazing at the city, not immediately giving a vocal response. He was just too taken back by the beauty and wonderment that laid before him to give her a reply. After a moment though, he was finally able to speak. "Thanks for coming Misty." He said, leaning himself against balcony's railing, just like his redheaded friend was.

"I don't know why you're thanking me." She said with a smile. "I should be thanking you for inviting me."

"But I wouldn't have invited anyone else." Ash said plainly.

The gym leader blushed a bit as she turned to her friend, seeing that he wasn't wearing his new hat anymore, revealing his wild, unkempt, inky black hair. Even though Misty had always made fun of his hair for being so messy, she couldn't help but find it cute for whatever reason.

"Why wouldn't you have invited anyone else?" She asked, a slightly confused look on her face.

"Well," Ash began to explain as he turned towards her, averting his gaze from the brilliantly lit city. "You're my best friend Mist." He paused for a moment. "And honestly, of all the people I've traveled with, you were always the one person that I loved traveling with the most."

Misty's blush became even more apparent. "You really mean that Ash?"

"Of course I do!" He exclaimed, almost sounding a bit shocked that she didn't already know this.

Misty gave him a warm smile. "You're sweet Ash."

The trainer gave her a slightly bewildered look. "There you are calling me sweet again. What's up with that?"

"I don't know." She answered honestly as she turned her gaze back towards the city. "It's just that you've grown up a lot these past four years, but at the same time you're still that same kid I fished out of a river six years ago." She turned back to Ash. "I guess that's just one of the things I find charming about you."

The trainer began to blush at the statement.

_She thinks I'm charming?_

After processing what she said, he began to speak again. "Uh, can I tell you something, Mist?"

"Of course."

"You know I didn't want you to leave, right?" His words were very sincere. "You know, when you went back to Cerulean."

"Of course I do Ash, and you know I wanted to stay with you and Brock, right?"

"Yeah, I knew you wanted to stay with us." He sighed. "But well, that's not the point."

Misty looked a bit puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"When you left, there were a lot of things I wanted to say to you, but…" He paused, trying to gather his thoughts. "I just didn't know how to say them."

"Well you can say them now." She gave him a warm, reassuring smile.

"That's just it." He said as he looked back towards the cityscape. "Even after all these years, I still don't know how to say what I wanted to say to you back then."

Misty rested her hand on his back. "It's okay Ash. There were things I wanted to say to you too, but I didn't know how to say them either." She paused and let out a small frown. "And I still don't."

The trainer turned to her, making eye contact with his friend. "Well there is one thing I _can say to you_."

"And what's that?" Her curiosity began to peak.

"You're my best friend Misty." He spoke truthfully. "I've had a lot of friends, and I've met a lot of people. But not one of them could ever take your place."

Misty began to feel a small tear form in her right eye. She quickly wiped it away, Ash not knowing a thing about it. "You're my best friend too Ash." She paused. "Honestly, I don't think I could ask for a better friend." Misty started feeling that the emotional levels of the conversation were reaching far too high of a level than she felt comfortable with, so she decided to deflate the situation. "Although, I think you could learn to be less of a slob." She said with a little laugh.

Ash chuckled at the remark, also happy that the emotional level of their conversation had been eased. "Well I think you could learn to be less mean." He then jokingly stuck out his tongue. Misty did the same.

After the two exchanged looks with one another, the gym leader let out a soft sigh, and pulled herself back from the rail. "I think I'm going to go to bed a bit early."

The trainer gave her a slightly confused look. "Why? We just got back."

"Yeah, but this jetlag is getting to me." She gave him another smile, and opened the glass door. "Goodnight Ash."

"Goodnight Misty." He nodded, and turned back towards the cityscape. After a few minutes of starring off into the distance. He gazed off into the electric city, taking in every single bit of it. After a few minutes of looking off into the distance, he decided to finally go back inside as the nine o' clock rolled around.

Ash reentered the hotel room, feeling like he could probably go to bed soon as well. However, the second he stepped inside, all of his attention was directed towards the bed next to his. Under the blankets, Misty laid there sleeping peacefully. Her red hair rustled against one pillow, while her arms wrapped tightly around the second pillow.

He couldn't help but admire the site before him. He had seen Misty sleeping many times when they were kids, but for some reason this was much different. She looked so… at ease. Ash began to feel a warm sensation in his stomach as he gazed down at her.

"Goodnight Misty." He whispered.

* * *

Tomorrow is orientation day and the big twist of the Master League shall be revealed!

But no, seriously, hopefully it'll make the story a bit more interesting.

As for the chapter itself, sorry if it seemed rather uneventful, or just downright boring. It's all for the sake of pacing, I assure you.

Well I'll see you guys tomorrow, and I'll be bringing some familiar faces with me.

Catch ya later.


	5. Orientation Day

Here we go, the last chapter before we get onto the real adventure. In this chapter we'll be introducing some old and new characters. Though introductions may be a bit short, they will get more time to expand upon their characters later in the story.

I hope this chapter fits to your expectations.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Ash! Get out of bed!" The black haired trainer rolled over and placed a pillow over his head, trying to muffle out Misty's insistent yelling. "Ash get out of bed! We're going to be late!" He felt her tug on his shoulder, but this it proved insufficient in waking him. The redhead let out a growl of frustration, knowing that they only had two hours to get to the P.L.A. Tower, and the commute on the public bus would take an hour and a half at the very least.

"I didn't want to do this." She mumbled as she shuffled through her Poké Balls. "Go Azumarill!" she tossed the red and white orb onto the bed, releasing a brilliant red light that began to take shape into the two foot tall, blue water rabbit.

"Azumarill!" She cried out upon her release. Ash began to peak out from under the pillow to see what was going on. When he saw the blue, oval shaped bunny looking directly at him, he had a feeling this wasn't going to end well for him. This feeling was solidified when he looked over at Misty, who had a mischievous grin written across her face.

"Azumarill, wake him up!" She almost began to laugh as she ordered her Pokémon to do this.

Azumarill took a deep breath, and then released a concentrated stream of cold water directed at Ash, who was still seeking shelter under his blanket and pillow. The icy water blasted against him, flooding the entire bed as well.

"Ah!" Ash screamed, jumping out from under the blanket, trying to get out from Azumarill's blast radius.

"Good, you're up." Misty said, with the slightest bit of amusement in her voice. "Now go dry off and get dressed, we've got to leave soon."

Ash was dumbstruck by what the gym leader had done. It wasn't the first time Misty had one of her Pokémon blast him with cold water to wake him up. Every time she did that though, it was when they were in the middle of the woods, not inside of a nice hotel.

"The hotel people aren't going to be happy about this." Ash groaned as he pointed towards now drenched bed.

"Exactly," Misty replied. That's why we need to pack up and leave." Ash kept his bewildered gaze at Misty, not moving from the spot he was standing in. "Now!" She barked.

"Okay, okay!" The trainer obeyed as he ran into the bathroom to change into his new set of cloths. He rushed through drying himself off by grabbing the nearest towel and just quickly running it over his body, as for getting dressed, he quickly threw on his cargo pants and shirt before stepping out of the bathroom, putting on his jacket as he left. As for his shoes, those could wait until he got down to the lobby, especially since he knew that in a matter of minutes someone from the hotel would probably be knocking on their door, asking why the entire floor was flooded.

"Alright, I'm ready!" He said has he hurriedly put his new jacket on. Once he did so, Pikachu jumped up onto his master's shoulder, giving him a lick on the cheek.

"Good." Misty replied, withdrawing Azumarill back into her Poké Ball. "Now grab your backpack and lets go!" Ash gave her a nod before grabbing his green backpack. Once the two had all of their things together, they darted out of the hotel room, hoping to get out of the building before anyone realized what had happened.

XXXXXXXXXX

Though the P.L.A. Tower was only about fifteen miles away, the time it took to get there on a public bus was unbearably long. Due to the large amount of traffic as well as the constant stops they had to make, it took much longer than it should have. The bus itself was packed full of people, which didn't help. However, the duo was fortunate enough to find a seat at the very front of the bus, which was nice considering that most of the passengers on the bus were trying to squeeze themselves into the back or the middle of the long vehicle.

"We should'a walked." Ash grumbled to the redhead sitting next to him.

"Well _excuse_ me Ash, but if someone had gotten up in time then maybe we wouldn't have to be packed in here like a can of Magicarp!"

The trainer crossed his arms and gave a pouty look. "You know how deep I sleep, you should'a tried harder to wake me up."

"Don't blame _me_ for _your_ inability to get up on time." She gave him a stern glare before turning towards the window, letting out a sigh of frustration. After that, the two remained relatively quiet for the next half hour, occasionally acknowledging a nice car or a cool shaped building as they passed by.

Growing tired of the silence, Ash decided to bring up another subject.

"So," He said getting Misty's attention. "I see you got Azurill to evolve."

Misty smiled a bit, proud to have her accomplishment acknowledged. "Yup, sure did." Her frustration from earlier seemed to have dissipated. "I got her to evolve to Marill not long after you left for Sinnoh, and then she evolved in Azumarill after a battle with a Jolteon."

Ash's eyes widened. "That' pretty impressive." He praised. When they had more time, he'd have to ask her how she managed to pull off that victory.

"I know, I was so proud of her." Misty took hold of her beloved Pokémon's Poké Ball and stared down at it in admiration.

"What about your other Pokémon, have they evolved?" He asked, now realizing that until that morning Misty had not taken out any of her Pokémon in front of him since they met up earlier that week.

Misty let out a disappointing sigh. "No." She exhaled. "I've been trying to get Psyduck to evolve, but he's so hard to work with."

Ash gave a bit of a surprised look. "You mean it's been over six years and he _still_ hasn't evolved yet?"

Misty shook her head once more. "I know." She admitted, almost seeming a bit embarrassed by the fact. "I love Psyduck to death, but he's just so… incompetent." Misty hated to talk so poorly about her own Pokémon, but there was no way she couldn't acknowledge that the yellow duck had not gotten any better since she first got him back in Hophophop Town.

"I'm sure he'll evolve soon." Ash comforted her as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "He just needs time, that's all."

"Ash, he's had six years worth of time. Let's face it, he'll never evolve."

The trainer pulled his hand off of her shoulder and began to scratch the back of his head, trying to think of something comforting to say to the redhead. However, he was out of ideas. As far as he could tell, she was right. If six years later Psyduck still hadn't evolved, there probably wasn't much hope of him ever moving onto the next stage of evolution.

XXXXXXXXXX

Outside of Crestpeak City, two Team Rocket agents kept a close eye on the P.L.A. Tower, zooming in on the spire with their binoculars. One of them was a male with shoulder length blue hair, while the other was a female with long scarlet colored hair that curved into a "C" shape.

"So why does the boss what us here, Jessie?" The blue haired agent asked.

The scarlet haired agent then pulled down her binoculars and gave her partner a glare. "You were at the briefing too, James. You should know." Jessie growled, trying to hide the fact that she was just as oblivious as James was.

"You two are both idiots." A voice emerged from behind the two. "Da boss said dat' there's gonna be a big competition, and we're supposed ta' keep a close eye on all these trainers ta' see if they have anything worth catchin'" Meowth said as he hopped between the two agents. "I bet that brat and his Pikachu are here too."

"Didn't the boss say that he didn't want us following the twerp and his Pikachu anymore?" Jessie asked, thinking back to their last meeting with Giovanni.

"_You mean to tell me that you three have been following a child and his rat for six years, and you _still_ have nothing to show for even that?!" He roared at the three. "The only reason I'm not going to put a bullet in all three of your insolent skulls is because there wouldn't be a brain inside of it to harm!" Chills shot down the spines of the three members of Team Rocket just at the thought of their boss ending them then and there. "From now on, I want you to do nothing more than reconnaissance, and _if_ you happen to by chance come across a rare or valuable Pokémon, then steal it." He leaned back in his chair, and began rubbing his pet Persian behind the ears. "I can't have you wasting valuable Team Rocket resources anymore. So from now on, no following trainers around, no major heists. Nothing other than reconnaissance and opportunistic theft!"_

The Three Rocket members all shuddered at the thought of that meeting.

XXXXXXXXXX

The plaza outside of the P.L.A. Tower was incredibly crowded. Though the Pokemon League had tried to keep the Master League a hush-hush topic until the championship rolled around, the media had taken a big interest in the new league. Literally thousands of reporters and journalists stood before the P.L.A. Tower, trying to get inside with the hope of finding out any information on the new league. Due to this mass flux of people, the front doors had been locked down, and no one was allowed in unless they either worked there, or they were one trainers there for the orientation.

"Oh wow!" Ash exclaimed upon seeing all the people in front of the giant spire. "How are we going to get in?"

Misty walked up next to him, holding Pikachu. "I don't know."

"I guess we could try to walk up to the door." Ash stated. Though being the obvious choice, it would prove to be difficult to fight through the massive sea of people that stood between them and the door. However, they weren't really left with much of a choice. "Hold my hand Misty." Ash said as he turned to her.

"What?" She seemed a bit puzzled and taken off guard by Ash's order.

"I don't want us to get separated in there, hold my hand."

Seeing where he was going with this, Misty nodded before reaching out with her left hand, and taking hold of his right. Once hand-in-hand, the two began to push their way through the hundreds of people between them and the door. Due to the huge sea of bodies, it quickly became difficult for the two to squeeze through the crowd.

"Excuse me, coming through" Ash announced as he fought his way through the mass, making sure to keep a grip on Misty's hand. "Sorry, I've got to get inside. Please move." The mosh of people seemed completely unaware of the trainer's requests, or just didn't care. This didn't come as much of a surprise to either of the two teens.

As they got deeper into the claustrophobic mass, Ash was almost tempted to tell Pikachu to use a thundershock just to get everyone to move out of the way. However it didn't take a genius to realize that casting a volt of electricity in the middle of a huge crowd would probably not end well. "Move out of the way!" Ash began to grow frustrated, but still no one would heed his demands.

Misty also began to grow increasingly more and more frustrated for every second she had to spend in this mass of people. Despite her notoriously bad attitude, She took no pleasure in expressing her anger in the middle of large, crowded areas. However, when two reporters began to squeeze between her and Ash, causing their hands to separate, she lost it.

"EVERYONE GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Her voice reverberated so loudly that almost every single reporter and journalist was silenced on the spot. "ME AND MY FRIEND HAVE TO GET INSIDE! SO IF YOU WOULD ALL _PLEASE_ MOVE OUT OF THE WAY, THAT WOULD BE VERY APPRICEATED!"

Ash and Pikachu both stared at her, completely flabbergasted by her outburst. He had never seen Misty get _this_ angry before. He always thought that he had received the blunt of her rage in most instances, however he had _never_ been unfortunate enough to be faced with that type of anger before.

Oddly enough though, after her outburst the crowd seemed to cooperate. The mass of people all moved out of the way in unison, creating a clear path towards the door. Ash and Misty quickly found each other again once everyone had gotten out of the way, both of them still quite surprised that her outburst had actually worked.

"Wow Misty, I've never seen you get _that_ angry before." Ash said, quite clearly flabbergasted.

Misty blushed, a bit embarrassed by letting her anger get the best of her. It was one thing if it was with Ash, then it was just playful. This time it was anything but playful. "Let's just go, okay?" She replied sheepishly. Giving her a nod, Ash headed towards the front door of the P.L.A. Tower, with Misty following closely behind him, still holding Pikachu.

"Can I help you?" The burly security guard asked, standing between the two trainers and the door.

"Yeah," The black haired trainer answered with a smile. "I'm here for the orientation for the Master League."

"Identification?"

"Huh?"

"Identification." He repeated, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Oh, yeah." Ash pulled out his Pokédex, and showed it to the guard. After a moment of looking at Ash's I.D., he nodded.

"Is your girl your guest?" He asked, looking towards Misty.

"Uh, yeah." The trainer answered.

The security guard gave him a slight nod, and waved them through. "You guys can go in."

Ash returned with a nod and a smile, while Misty responded with a "Thanks." as the guard opened the door for them.

"Not a problem." He said as the two teens walked into the Tower. "By the way, it's kinda cute to see you brought your girlfriend along with ya." Ash and Misty felt their cheeks flush at the comment.

"Well you see…" Misty explained as she turned to face the guard. "We're just friends."

The guard grinned. "Well what's that then?" He pointed down towards their hands. Ash and Misty's eyes followed his finger to see that they were still holding hands, or for that matter, had started holding hands _again_ after they were reunited when the mass of people moved out of their way. The two then quickly released their grips on one another, and turned away from each other. Both of them unable to look the other directly in the eyes without turning a bright shade of crimson.

"Pika pi." Pikachu sighed, shaking his head.

XXXXXXXXXX

After fifteen minutes of following misleading signs and traversing through the P.L.A. Tower's maze of hallways, the two had somehow finally managed to find their way into the meeting room where the orientation was supposed to be taking place. It was a rectangular room that was about thirty by fifty feet. The walls were solid white, with a few black and white pictures of the Pokémon League's founders aligning the walls. The room was empty for the most part, aside from a few trainers who had already taken a seat in one of the many foldout chairs that lined across the floor. Near the front of the rectangular meeting room was a slightly elevated stage with a podium in the center.

"I guess we got here early." Ash said as he and Misty made their way over towards a pair of empty chairs. "I thought you said this was going to start in just a few minutes?" He added as he looked around the room to see that only about fifteen of the supposedly thirty-two invited trainers in the room. Ash tried to see if he could recognize any of them, but the only familiar face he saw was Tobias, who was sitting near the very front. However, the black haired trainer didn't necessarily feel like going up and saying hi to him.

"Maybe they delayed the orientation because of all those people outside?" Misty replied.

"Maybe." Ash shrugged as he took a seat. Misty began to follow suit, but then was stopped as a voice boomed behind her.

"Oh wow!" A male voice shouted out, causing all the trainers in the room to direct their attention towards its origin. Though the exclamation was very broad and could have meant anything, Misty felt like it was directed at her. Ash felt the same. "I don't remember seeing _you_ in any of the Pokémon Leagues." The voice added.

The gym leader turned around to see that the voice belonged to a young man who was about the same age as her, and slightly taller than Ash. His blonde hair was unkempt and spiked upwards slightly. He was also quite handsome to boot. Though the most defining feature about him was his glowing blue eyes which matched his blue hoodie.

"Uh, are you talking to me?" Misty asked sheepishly. Slightly taken back by the outburst, and also taken back by how handsome he was.

The blonde gave her a nod. "Yeah, I watched all four conferences and I'd think I'd remember seeing a beauty like you compete." Misty blushed at the comment. Ash's face began to redden too. Though for a much different reason.

"W..well you see, I'm his guest." The redhead pointed towards Ash, who was giving the boy a stern glare. Even Pikachu seemed to express his disapproval for him by crackling sparks from the red pouches on his cheeks.

The blonde haired teen eyed the trainer, trying to recognize him. After a moment, he was able to place the face with a name. "Oh I know you!" He said in a tone that indicated no hostility whatsoever. "You're that Ash Ketchum kid!"

"Yeah, sure am." He answered, trying to sound as macho as he could.

"Yeah, I saw you get stomped by Tobias!." His tone didn't really come off as malicious. Though it did seem to hint arrogance.

Ash quickly began to loose patience. "Well I don't remember seeing you." He said trying to hide his ever growing detest for the blonde. "I must've lost interest when you were on." Misty gave Ash a stern look after he said this.

_What's she mad at _me_ for?_

The blonde seemed rather disinterested in Ash's remark. "My name is Zak!" He exclaimed as he pointed towards himself with his thumb. "Made it all the way to the final round of Johto!" His introduction seemed to be more so directed at Misty than Ash. "So, what's your name, beautiful?" He gave a sly smile towards Misty.

She blushed once more. "My name is Misty Waterflower of Cerulean City."

"Well, it's good to meet you Misty." He said, keeping his sly grin. "Maybe me and you should grab a bite to eat after this?"

Ash's face began to steam.

"Oh… W..well…" Misty seemed a bit flustered by the offer. "Me and Ash have to get going after this, so maybe another time?"

Ash couldn't help but crack a small grin after hearing her refusal.

"Oh," Zak replied, not really showing any disappointment. "well if you ever change your mind, just let me know." He said as he made a sly gesture in her direction, causing Misty to blush once more.

All the while, Ash and Pikachu sat with expressions of disapproval written across their faces.

"Pika pi." The mouse growled.

"You're telling me, Pikachu." Ash whispered in the same tone as his companion.

After the blonde had walked off and taken a seat, Misty took her seat next to Ash. "He's nice." She giggled. The black haired trainer tried his best to not say anything about the situation, but jealousy got the best of him.

"He sure does like to talk a lot." He grumbled.

"Well he's got a lot to be proud of." Misty defended. "It's no small feat to make it to the final round of the Pokémon League."

_I'd like to see him take down a Darkrai._ Ash thought before choosing not to dwell on it any longer. He then crossed his arms and stared directly in front of him, remaining silent as more and more trainers entered the room and began filling the seats.

After about a minute or two, Ash looked off to the side to see that a familiar purple haired trainer from Sinnoh had entered the room. He carried a constant frown, and didn't seem the least bit interested in engaging in any social activity.

"Hey Paul!" Ash called out to his old rival.

After hearing his name, the Sinnoh Top Eight competitor turned to see who was calling him. However, as soon as he saw it was Ash, he let out a huff before turning away and taking a seat.

"He seems happy to see you." Misty said in a sarcastic tone.

"No kidding." Ash didn't expect to receive a warm reply from his old rival, but he at least expected to get an actual response from him.

Shortly after Paul took a seat, another trainer entered. He was a tall guy with short brown hair, and was being accompanied by a Houndoom. Both Ash and Misty were able to recognize him on the spot.

"Harrison!" Ash called out, hoping to at least get a response from him. After hearing his name being called, he turned towards Ash, cracking a huge smile when he saw who it was calling him.

"Oh, hey Ash! Hey Misty!" Him and his Houndoom ran up to the two. "How's it going?"

"Great!" Ash replied.

Misty turned to the black haired trainer. "All you need now is Gary and Richie and you'll have all of your Pokémon League rivals here."

Ash frowned, and shook his head. "Gary didn't compete this year." He paused. "He's been getting into Pokémon science and stuff like that." He still seemed the slightest bit disappointed that his original rival had decided to abandon Pokémon training in favor of pursuing a career in science like his grandfather.

"Oh," Misty replied, a bit taken back by the news. "that's a shame. He always was a really good trainer."

"Uh, wait a second." Harrison interjected, catching both Ash and Misty's attention. "Did you mean Richie from Frodomar City?"

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, why?" He answered for Misty.

"Me and him had a match in the top sixteen. That Pikachu of his was really awesome!"

"Wait," Ash realized what he was saying. "You beat Richie in the Top sixteen?"

Harrison nodded, signifying his answer.

"Oh." The black haired trainer felt quite disheartened by the news. He had been looking forward to seeing his old rival compete in the Master League with him.

Harrison started to feel a bit awkward after seeing Ash's disappointment upon hearing the news of his victory over Richie. "Well, I've got some other friends here I need to meet up with. So I'll catch you guys latter."

Ash and Misty gave him a nod. "Well it was good to see you again." Misty said with a friendly smile.

"Yeah, we'll see you around." Ash added, cracking a small grin.

The tall trainer smiled and waved before walking towards the front of the room where he took a seat with some other trainers whom he seemed to be pretty familiar with.

After about ten minutes, all the seats had been filled up, and all the trainers began waiting patiently for the orientation to start. As they waited, many of the competitors began looking around the room, trying to see if there were any trainers of interest in their midst. One that had gained quite a bit of attention, and even started up some chattering amongst some of the trainers was a long haired man who stood at six feet tall, sitting in the back corner of the room.

He wore all black. A black shirt, black pants, black boots, black gloves, and a black leather trench coat. This all contrasted with his long, fair colored hair that flowed halfway down his back. Seeing that everyone had taken notice of the man, Ash couldn't help but ask Misty what the big deal was about tall, dark and broody.

"Who's that guy?" He whispered, pointing towards the man in the back. Misty turned her head and took one quick look at the man in black, knowing exactly who he was at first glance.

"Have you not watch the Indigo Pokémon League?" She seemed astounded that Ash didn't know who the man was. Ash shook his head, almost embarrassed that he never got around to at least watching a little bit of the league he had first competed in. "That's Damian!" Though she said this in a hushed tone, the exclamation in her voice did not go unfounded. "He made it all the way to the championship match with Lance before being beaten."

"Oh wow." Ash almost looked bug eyed. "_He_ made it all the way to Lance?" Misty nodded. "Did he win?" The redhead glared at him after hearing this, hoping that her look alone would help Ash realize what he just asked. After taking a quick glance at her, he realized the stupidity of his own question.

"Greetings all trainers." A monotone voice boomed from the speakers, causing Ash and Misty to jump in their seats. "Thank you for attending the Master League Orientation." A tall man in a suit spoke into the podium's microphone. "Before I let Mr. Goodshow take the stand, I would like to cover a few things first…" He said without the smallest hint of enthusiasm in his voice. After hearing this, Ash and Misty both let out a sigh, knowing that this was going to be _very_ boring.

XXXXXXXXXX

After what seemed like a short eternity, the man in the suit had finally gone over all of the things that the letter Ash received had already covered. Him and Misty weren't the only ones who seemed to express disinterest with the business man's rambling. Most of the trainers, Paul being one of them, had completely lost interest. Others began chatting quietly amongst themselves, or even falling asleep.

"And without further ado," The man in the suit spoke up, showing the first hint of what could be interpreted as excitement in his voice, catching the attention of all the trainers in the room. "please give a warm welcome for the president of the Pokémon League, Mr. Goodshow!"

The man in the suit stepped down from the podium, allowing for the President to step onto the stage. A few trainers began to applaud as he did so, showing their respect to the Pokémon League President. The bearded man stepped up next to the podium, grabbing the microphone, and detaching it from its stand. He then stepped away from the podium, holding the microphone in hand as he began to speak to the trainers.

"It is a pleasure to see all of you here today." The President said with a grin. "Now you all have already heard my friend here ramble on about all of the things that you already knew. You're supposed to get eight gym badges before November first if you want to compete in the Master League Championship, simple enough." The President said, summing up the opening speakers thirty minute speech in one sentence. "What he didn't tell you though, was who will be running these gyms." A smirk began to appear on his face. "Due to the fact that this is a _Masters _League, it should be appropriate that the gym leaders be the very best in the world." The audience began to look at each other and quietly began to chat amongst themselves after the president's statement. "Which is why…" He paused to let everyone in the crowd begin to quiet down. "Which is why the gym leaders representing the Zerra Region are all members from the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh Elite Four." There was a giant gasp amongst the crowd. "We have gathered two members from each region's Elite Four to serve as gym leaders here in the Master League competition."

Misty and Ash both looked at each other, completely aghast. Ash had always worried about having to go against the Elite Four if he ever won the Pokémon League Championship, but to have to go against _eight_ of them? The feat seemed unheard of. The only solace he could take in this was knowing that at least he didn't have to face them in a gauntlet, and if he lost to them he could just challenge them again.

"Now I'm not much of one for rambling and talking longer than I have to." The president said as he chuckled under his breath from seeing almost all of the trainers in the room nearly pass out from the idea of having to beat eight members of the Elite Four. "So all of you get out of here and earn your eight gym badges!" He exclaimed, excitement in his voice. "I'll see you in November!"

* * *

Okay, it may have not been much of a twist, but I thought it would be an interesting take on the league.

And as a side note, you have no idea how weird it was to put into words that the Elite "Four" would be representing the "eight" gyms….. Anyways, in next chapter we'll be starting up our adventure, and the one after that will be the first gym battle.

Also, since one of those chapters is relatively short in comparison to other chapters, you guys might be in for two chapters tomorrow. Don't get your hopes up though, as this is optimistically speaking.

See you tomorrow, everybody!


	6. High-Noon at Evergreen Planes

At first, I thought that this chapter was going to be bad. I really felt this chapter was uneventful and that nothing much of importance happened. However, after going over it and revising it, I feel this is a pretty solid and fun chapter.

I guess you could argue this could be considered "filler" until they get to the first gym, but I feel that there is enough action and characterization between Ash and Misty to justify this.

Though, since this chapter might still be viewed as "uneventful", I'm going to possibly be posting the next chapter today. Especially since it is relatively short in comparison.

Enjoy!

* * *

The two had been traveling through the thick Zerran forest for almost four days, and the thick, humid summer air of the region had begun to take its toll on the them. Even Pikachu, who had been resting on his master's head for the past hour was growing weary from the heat.

"You got us lost, didn't you?" Ash moaned as he wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.

"No!" Misty was quick to defend. Her face had started to sweat from the heat as well. It had even grown so humid that she decided to tie her hair back up into her trademarked side ponytail to keep her hair from getting frizzy.

Misty took another look at the map, trying to find their location on the unfolded piece of paper. Their destination was Fluressa City, home to the first gym of the Master League, which was easy enough to find on the map. However, all the lines leading to Fluressa City just looked the same to her. She couldn't tell which lines were supposed to be roads, or which lines were supposed to be rivers, but more importantly, she couldn't even remotely figure out where they were at in relativity to the map. She then let out a sigh. "Yes Ash, we're lost."

"Told you, ya should'a just let me use the map." He said in a snarky tone.

The redhead shot him a look. "If I had let you have the map, we would've ended up somewhere in the middle of Johto."

"Well at least we know where everything's at in Johto." Ash had stopped walking at this point, and looked up towards the sky. "Maybe I can send Pidgeot up and have him scout out for us."

Misty nodded. "Better yet, why don't we just ride him out of here?"

Ash shook his head at the suggestion. "Pidgeot can't fly far when we're both on his back." He paused, remembering how tired his feathered friend was when they arrived back at his house after retrieving the bird from Route 1. "Especially in this heat, he could pass out in the middle of the sky. It just wouldn't be safe."

The redhead turned to him. "Well why don't you ride Charizard, and I ride Pidgeot?"

The trainer shook his head again. "Pidgeot doesn't like it when anyone else flies on him without me." Misty's eyes began to narrow upon hearing this. "But you could ride Charizard." He said with a smile. "He doesn't mind you riding on him without me."

The gym leader began to think about his proposal. Something about riding on the back of the powerful fire type without Ash just made her too nervous. "Just send Pidgeot up to see if there's a town around or something." She sighed, rolling up the map and using it as a personal fan to help cool herself off. While she did this, Ash reached for his Poké Ball belt and took hold of the red and white sphere containing Pidgeot.

"Go Pidgeot!" He shouted as he released the giant bird. Upon being freed, Pidgeot stretched out his wings, letting out a little caw as he did so. "Pidgeot," Ash said to his old friend. "I need for you to fly up above the trees and find a nearby town." The bird nodded, understanding his masters orders. He then began to flap his wings, creating a small gust of as he quickly soared into the sky, and began looking for a nearby town.

"You know, it's really nice to have Pidgeot back." Misty said as she watched the Pokémon coasting through the air.

"It sure is!" Ash's eyes were wide and filled with wonder as feelings of nostalgia began to rush through him as he watched one of his original six scout out the nearest town.

After a moment, Pidgeot began to slowly descend, gracefully landing in front of the two teens. "Did you see anything?" The trainer asked, a hint of worry in his voice. Pidgeot nodded. "Really? Where is it?" Upon hearing the news, all the worry in his voice quickly vanished. Pidgeot then tilted his head towards what Ash assumed was northwest. "Thanks Pidgeot!" He thanked the Pokémon as he returned him to his Poké ball.

"Ash you might want to…." Before Misty could finish her sentence, Ash had already taken off into the woods, blindly running in the direction Pidgeot had pointed towards. "Use a compass…" Misty sighed before having to start running to catch up with her traveling companion.

"C'mon Misty!" Ash called out to her, enthusiasm filling his voice.

"Ash you really might want to make sure you're not running in circ-Ahh!" While trying to catch up with the black haired trainer, her foot was snagged on a vine, causing her to trip and land flat on her face against the hard packed dirt.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried out upon hearing the "_thud"_ from Misty's fall. Ash came to a sudden stop upon hearing this as well. He turned around and darted back to Misty, hoping that she was alright. When he saw her sitting on the ground, rubbing her ankle, he could tell that she wasn't hurt too badly.

"You alright Misty?" He asked, running towards her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just tripped, that's all."

Ash gave her a hand and pulled her onto her feet. "Do you think you can still walk on it?" He asked, pointing to her foot.

"Yeah, I'll be fi-" Misty stopped mid-sentence as she felt something wrap around her foot. It felt like the same vine she had tripped on just moments ago. The two looked down to see that the vine was wrapped around her ankle again. Curious, their eyes followed the green vine, trying to find what it was connected to. As their eyes traveled to the vines origin, the two trainers saw it connected to a large, bulbous, yellow plant. It was shaped like a flytrap of some sorts, and had two semicircular eyes with a large, round mouth above the eyes.

"Victreebel!" The two trainers screamed in unison. Ash quickly bent over and began untying Misty's foot from the plant Pokémon's vine. Once free, her and Ash ran out of reach from the giant plant. The then Pokémon let out a shriek as it used its vines to pull itself closer to them.

"Pikachu, use thunderbolt!" Ash ordered. Pikachu leapt off of Ash's head as his cheek pouches began to spark, electricity surrounding the little mouse. Once it had a good charge going, the Pokémon released a surge of electricity towards the screaming plant. The second the electric charge made contact, the Victreebel cried out in pain, and quickly retreated behind the bushes.

"Whew." Misty sighed in relief as she wiped a her brow. "That was close."

"I don't think we're out of the woods yet."

"What do you mea-" As the redhead looked up, she could see that the Victreebel Pikachu had shocked reemerge from the bushes, this time with a few friends. The two trainers looked up at the large group of Victreebel that had begun encircling them, completely staggered by the monstrous plants. "Any ideas Ash?" Misty tried hiding the worry in her voice.

"Yeah, run!" Without any hesitation, the two began retreating away from the gang of plants. Though their Pokémon were more than strong enough to fight off the Victreebel, there was no way they could reach their Poké balls and call out their Pokémon before the giant plants would catch them. So instead the two darted towards the direction that Pidgeot had pointed them towards, hoping that when they got out of the forest, the gang of plants would leave them alone.

"Ash, I don't think we can run from these things forever!" Misty screamed as the yellow flytraps quickly started to catch up with them by using their vines to swing across the forest's trees.

"I know!" Ash painted. "We just have to get to the tow-" As Ash pushed the brush out of the way, he was met by a tall, lean man who was wearing a pair of overalls and a ratty white shirt beneath them. Next to him was a beautifully groomed Arcanine.

"Get down!" He barked at the two, a southern accent quite apparent in his voice. The two trainers quickly heeded his orders and ducked down as the man ordered his Arcanine to use flamethrower on the group of Victreebel. A stream of flame flowed over the two teens and their Pikachu, and hit the group of Victreebel square on their bulbous bodies. As the searing flames made contact with the plants, they quickly turned back, and retreated into the forest.

"Ya'll can get up now." The man in overalls said to the group. Ash, Misty and Pikachu all stood up and looked around to see that the wild Victreebel were no longer there.

"Thanks for the help." Ash said as he gave the man a nod. "I thought they were going to catch us for sure."

The farmer returned the nod. "Not a problem." His southern drawl was obvious. "What brings the two of you to this side of the woods anyways?"

"Well you see," Misty started, a smile on her face. "we got lost on our way to Fluressa City, and we'd be so happy if you could point us in the right direction."

The man turned and spat on the ground before answering. "If you're want'n to get to Fluressa City, ya'll might want to turn around and take Route 242." He paused. "It's bout a day's walk or so."

Ash and Misty gave a disheartened expression at the thought of having to go back into the woods they just came running out of. "Is that the _only_ way to Fluressa City?" Desperation was apparent in Ash's voice.

The man bit down on his lip and remained silent for a moment as he started thinking about some of the trails he used to use when he was younger. "Yup, there certainly is."

Ash, Misty, and Pikachu's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "Really where?" Misty's voice filled with glee.

"Right here through town." The man said as he pointed towards the small town behind him. Ash and Misty looked off in the distance and saw that this "town" looked more like a glorified ranch. There were only a few barns and buildings scattered throughout the rolling hills. They could also see large fenced in areas filled with roaming Miltanks. The two also noticed that the entire plane of land was surrounded by mountains, which acted as a natural fence, protecting the cow Pokémon from any of the dangers the outside world presented. "Follow me, I'll take ya'll there." He said as he waved for the two to follow him.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So what's ya'lls names anyway?" The man in overalls asked as he guided the two through the dirt path that went through the middle of this "town".

"My name's Ash."

"And I'm Misty."

"Well it's nice to meet ya Ash and Misty." He said with a smile. "My name's Cletus, and this here's my Arcanine." He introduced, pointing to his loyal dog Pokémon. "I hope ya'll like our little town. It's more like a farm than a town though."

"It sure is a big farm." Misty said, slightly taken back by the vastness of the ranch.

"Yup." Cletus replied. "My great, great, great grandpa started this ranch when he was young." He paused for a moment. "Or was it my great, great, great, _great_ grandpa?" He shook his head. "Oh well, I can't remember.

"Well it sure has grown since then." Ash said, taking note of the general store as well as the small houses they passed.

"When the ranch started gettin' big, folks started movin' in. Next thing we knew, Zerra started recognizin' Evergreen Planes as its own town."

"That's cool." Misty added. "With all the Miltanks you have here, it looks like you could feed the whole region."

"We do." Cletus replied as he started as he started petting his Arcanine. "Folks from all around buy Miltank milk from u-" Before he could finish his sentence, another man in overalls came running out of one of the barns nearby.

"Cletus!" The man shouted. Ash, Misty, and Cletus all turned and faced him. "We've got a problem! Them rustlers took another herd of Miltank last night!"

Ash and Misty both looked at each other with confused looks. "Rustlers?" They said in unison.

Without bothering to explain, Cletus and his Arcanine took off towards the barn that the worried rancher had come running out of. Misty and Ash watched on for a moment, before taking it upon themselves to follow him into the barn and see what was going on.

The inside, the wooden structure was completely empty aside from haystacks and a few farming tools. Cletus looked completely appalled by the sight. At this point Arcanine had begun sniffing around the barn, trying to find any trace of scent left behind by the rustlers, but proved unsuccessful.

"They cleaned out the entire barn!" Cletus shouted, trying to resist the urge to curse in front of his visitors. "I can believe this! This is the fifth barn they've cleared out in two weeks!"

The Trainer from Pallet, and the gym leader from Cerulean both looked at each other, slightly bewildered by the entire situation. "Should we offer to help?" Misty asked, seeming a bit indecisive as to if they should help or not.

Ash gave a nod. "I've got this." He said as he began to approach the rancher. "I can help." Ash said, catching Cletus' attention.

"You can?" he seemed a bit puzzled, not sure how these two visitors could help.

"Yeah, I made it to the top four of the Sinnoh League, and Misty here is the Gym Leader of Cerulean City." His voice was quite assuring.

Cletus cracked a smile. "Well if you two insist, our town would be in your debt."

"It's not a problem." Misty said with a smile as she walked up next to Ash. "We'd love to help out. It wouldn't be the first time we've gone out of our way to help someone."

Cletus gave them both a nod. "Well we all really appreciate the help. Evergreen Planes will make sure you receive _the_ best hospitality we've got to offer."

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash laid back on the soft grass, resting his arms behind his head as he looked up at the clouds. He had just received one of the biggest lunches he'd ever eaten in his life. Cletus wasn't kidding when he said they'd receive _the_ best hospitality they had to offer. For lunch he took Ash, Misty, and Pikachu to the local diner and bought them a full meal of mashed potatoes, a big chunk of steak, beans, and soup.

_Jeez, if that's their lunch I'd hate to see what dinner is._ Ash thought as he felt his eyes grow a bit heavy while his body processed all the food he had just eaten. The trainer then lowered the brim of his hat so the sun would stay out of his eyes while he took a short nap.

"I thought I'd find you snoozing out here." Ash raised the brim of his hat just enough to see Misty standing above him, her hair no longer in its side ponytail.

"C'mon Misty, can't I just take a little nap?" Ash pleaded as he lowered the brim of his hat back down.

She shook her head. "Not a chance." She answered, reaching down and taking off Ash's hat. The trainer from Pallet quickly covered his eyes as the suns unforgiving beams glared onto him.

"Ah! What was that for?" He exclaimed, leaning up, trying to snatch his hat back.

"Because," She said as she pulled the hat away from his reach and placed it on her own head. "They're having a dance tonight and I'm not going to be dancing with someone who smells like dirt and hay." She turned away and started walking back towards the town. "So go take a shower."

Ash was completely bewildered and slightly dumbfounded by what she just said. He looked on as he watched Misty walk away with his hat, wanting to say something, but unable to find the words. After a moment though, the words finally found him. "What do you mean dance?"

"You heard me!" She shouted from afar. "Now go take a shower!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Why are you taking me here, Misty?" Ash groaned as she pulled him by the arm towards the big barn where the dance was being held in. As the two approached they recalled that Cletus had mentioned earlier that the building wasn't used as a barn anymore. Years ago the town's citizens converted it into a bar and grill where they held dances once a week, and it just so happened that Ash and Misty arrived on the day they were holding their weekly dance.

"Because Ash," Misty began to explain as she pulled the black haired trainer closer to her to keep him from running off. "they've been so nice to us. It would be rude if we turned them down on the offer."

Ash rolled his eyes. "But we're already helping them with the rustlers, why do we need to go to this stupid dance?" Ash felt Misty jab her elbow into his side. "Ow."

"Quit being such a baby. It's not like it's a big formal dance you had to dress up for. We're just here to have fun." Misty growled as the two approached the barn doors. A man stood in front of the doors, and gave them a nod as the couple and their Pikachu approached.

"I'll get that door for ya'll." He said as he opened the door, revealing the brightly lit interior of the barn.

"Thank you very much." Misty replied, grateful for his courtesy. "The people here are so nice, aren't they Ash?"

"Sure, I guess." His tone was like that of a child not getting a toy they wanted.

Misty let go of his arm and glared at him. "You know what Ash? If you want to be like this, then fine, don't go!" The redhead shouted. "I'm sure there are plenty of _handsome_ men in there that'll want to dance with me!" She then turned away from the black haired trainer, and stomped into the barn.

Ash was completely baffled by this. He had gotten what he wanted, he didn't have to go to the dance now. At the same time though, he wasn't really all that happy about it either. Did he _really_ not want to go to the dance? Or was he just being a little brat about the whole situation?

"She's not _really_ going to dance with other guys, is she?" He said to himself, trying to block out the idea of his redheaded friend being the center of attention to other men.

"Woo Wee!" The doorman howled. "That lil' lady did not look happy at all."

Ash felt a surge of anger jolt through him, but he didn't say anything because he knew the doorman was right.

"You best be getten' in there and fixin' things up with your lil lady friend, or she'll find herself someone else."

The doorman's words sank into Ash's skull. The idea of Misty dancing with other guys repulsed him to the point of near sickness. But why should he care? She was just his friend, she could do whatever she wanted. But for whatever reason, Ash just couldn't let that happen.

Misty had already started to enjoy herself. The music wasn't exactly her taste, but she couldn't help but find something charming about this "Yee haw" music as she called it. She'd also never square danced before, but it was quite easy to figure out and it was kind of fun in its own right. After finishing a round with her dance partner, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Yes?" The redhead turned around to see it was none other than the black haired brat. "Oh, it's you." Her tone became completely disinterested. "What do you want?"

"I..I was wondering if you wanted to dance?" He answered sheepishly.

"Why would I want to dance with _you_?"

Ash looked down at his feet, remaining silent for a moment.

Seeing that he wasn't going to give her an answer, Misty turned around and started walking off towards another dance partner.

"Because I'm sorry." He said, speaking quite clearly.

She stopped in her tracks. "For?"

_Oh c'mon Misty, why are you doing this to me?_

"Acting like a jerk…" He mumbled.

"I'm sorry Ash, I couldn't hear you."

_She's not _really_ doing this, is she?_

"Could you say that again?

_She is…_

"I'm sorry for acting like a jerk." He said a little louder.

Misty held her ear up closer to him. "Could you please say that again? It's really hard to hear you over this music."

_Really Misty?_

"Misty, I'm sorry for acting like a jerk!" He shouted, nearly at the top of his lungs.

"Oh well that's so sweet of you Ash!" Misty nearly squealed. "I'd love to dance with you!" She grabbed the trainer by the arm, and pulled him towards the center of the Barn. However, once they reached the crowded dance floor, the band finished up the final chords of their song.

_Thank goodness._ Ash thought as the music began to cease. However, just as the music came to a stop, the lights began to dim down and the band began playing a soft, slow groove. Over this slow beat was a twangy slide guitar, adding a southern feel to the song.

"This one's for ya'll romantic couples on the dance floor." a deep voice echoed through the speakers.

"Well, I guess that means this one's not for us." Ash stated as he started to walk off the dance floor, being stopped in his tracks when his redheaded friend grabbed him by the arm.

"It's a suggestion, not a requirement." She grumbled as the she pulled Ash in for a dance.

"But I don't know how to dance."

"It's simple." She said as she took hold of his right hand. "Put this hand here." She placed his right hand over her side. "And hold my hand with this hand." She took hold of his left hand. "Now all you have to do is take the lead."

"I don't know how to do that." Ash said with a hint of embarrassment, but more so desperation to get out of this awkward situation.

Misty snickered. "Just swing to the beat."

"O..okay." Ash stuttered as he started slowly swinging back and forth to the beat.

_This is pretty easy._

After a moment, swinging to the beat almost became instinctive. Allowing him to instead focus on looking at Misty. Their faces were mere inches away from each other, their eyes locked. He couldn't help but once again marvel at her beauty. Her green eyes glowed under the lighting, while her red hair flowing elegantly behind her.

However the admiration wasn't just coming from him. Misty couldn't help but revel in seeing Ash this close up. His brown eyes staring into hers. His handsome smile. Of course she couldn't forget about his messy hair that she found so cute peaking out from under his cap.

"Misty." He said, not breaking eye contact.

"Yes?"

"You look amazi-"

"Rustlers!" A voice boomed across the barn. The trainers quickly released each other and turned towards the barn doors, where a single man in a straw hat stood. "The rustlers are here!"

Ash, Misty, Pikachu, Cletus, and his Arcanine darted down the dirt road that traveled through the middle of town, hoping to catch the rustlers before they got away. Even though it was only eight o' clock, the town was nearly pitch black due to the lack of lights. This served perfectly for rustlers, as it made it easy for them to steal Miltanks unnoticed.

"Where did they say they were at?" Ash painted as Misty and Pikachu followed closely behind Cletus and his loyal companion.

"They're somewhere around…" Cletus stopped mid-sentence upon seeing the trio of rustlers trying to herd a barn full of Miltank away from the ranch. "Here."

The three rustlers were dressed in black coats and straw hats. One of them turned around and jumped upon noticing they had been caught in the act.

"We got visitors." One rustler said to his buddies. The other two turned towards the three trainers, showing no real concern.

"Well looks like we've got some folks trying to act like heroes." The bearded one in the middle grumbled.

"How about we show em' what happens when you mess with the Pierce Brothers Gang!" The short one added.

All three of them pulled out a Poké Ball from their coats, and threw them onto the dirt road, unleashing a Golem, Ninetails, and a Scyther.

"Alright, so it's a battle you want, you've got one!" Ash shouted out to them. "Pikachu go!" The yellow mouse jumped down from his master's shoulder and began emitting sparks from his cheeks.

"Go Arcanine!" Cletus ordered, his loyal companion taking a battling stance before the three Pokémon.

Misty reached for a Poké Ball and tossed it onto the battlefield. "Go Starmie!" As the red and white sphere opened, it revealed the purple starfish Pokémon.

"Heya!" It cried out as it prepared for the imminent battle.

The bearded rustler grunted. "Let's see what these little wimps can do." He looked over at Pikachu. "Golem! Show that Pikachu what pain is with rollout!" The Golem let out a roar and curled itself into its rock shell, forming a solid ball, and then started to roll at extreme speeds towards the yellow mouse.

"Pikachu! Dodge it!" Ash ordered, knowing that electrifying the rock Pokémon would be completely useless. The electric rodent waited until the boulder Pokémon was right on him before pouncing over it, and landing safely out of harms way.

"Starmie!" Misty cried out. "Blast him with a bubblebeam!" the starfish pointed its top three "points" towards the Golem who was still inside of its shell. Then a powerful stream of bubbles shot out from Starmie, exploding the second they made contact with Golem's hard shell.

"Arrr!" It cried out as the stream of bubbles blasted away the rock type Pokémon, causing him to extend his head, arms, and legs out of the rock shell.

"Scyther! Take out that stupid starfish!" One of the other rustlers cried out, his Scyther following his orders without hesitation. The grass type Pokémon zipped towards the starfish, lunging its hand blades back as it closed in to strike.

"Starmie! Counter with double edge!" The starfish then quickly hopped into the air and began spinning towards the green bug type. When Starmie's hard edge made contact with the thick exoskeleton of Scyther, both Pokémon were sent flying backwards upon impact.

The Scyther was quick to recover though, as it quickly found its way back onto its feet. However it wasn't prepared for what was to come next.

"Arcanine! Use flamethrower on that Scyther!" The loyal dog opened its mouth and fired a concentrated stream of fire directly at the giant bug.

"Counter it Ninetails!" The third rustler ordered. The elegant Ninetails then fired its own stream of fire, using it to counter the incoming attack on Scyther. As the two steams of flame met, little embers began to shoot off all over the dirt road. Arcanine's powerful blast though was proving too strong for Ninetails, causing the fox's stream of fire to dissipate. However, Arcanine's drive was ended as Golem stepped between the two, allowing his rock body to take the blast of fire without being effected in the slightest.

_This isn't working._ Ash thought. Their Pokémon were not only tough, but the combination they were using could always find a way to counter anything the three of them threw at the rustlers. _Wait, I've got an idea._

"Misty!" Ash called out to the gym leader, getting her attention. "I need for you to soak all three of those Pokémon!"

"That won't do much good for the Scyther."

"Just do it!" Ash shouted, giving a wink.

Returning with a nod, Misty went with the plan. "Starmie, use surf!"

"Heya!" it cried as three powerful blasts of water fired out from its tips, creating a small wave that engulfed the three Pokémon and their trainers. Once the wave subsided, it was very clear that Golem and Ninetails were severely affected by the attack.

"Good, now it's your turn Pikachu!" Ash cried out to his little friend, giving him a nod.

"Pika!"

"Give em' one big thunderbolt!" Pikachu began to charge up electricity, lighting engulfing his body.

"What's he doing?" The short one asked the bearded one.

"Piiiiiikaaaaaaa….."

"This ain't good." the bearded one gulped as he took note of the giant puddle of water they were all standing in.

"Chuuuuuuuu!" A blast of electricity shot out from his cheek pouches, zapping the wet rustlers and their Pokémon. Even Golem was severely effected by the blast. As the thousands of volts of electricity surged through the six of them, they were blasted high up into the sky, vanishing from view of Misty, Ash, and Cletus.

"Looks like their blasting off again." Misty chuckled as she looked up at the starry night sky.

Cletus looked over at the redhead, looking slightly perplexed by her statement. "Huh?"

Misty shook her head. "It's a bit of an inside joke." Her and Ash let out a laugh.

"Well," Cletus said as he looked up at the sky, trying to see if he could spot the rustlers. "I don't think they'll be stealin' anymore Miltank from now on."

"Looks like it." Ash said as Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder. "Now let's get back to that dance!" He looked over at Misty and let out a smile, the gym leader returned it.

"Well, this cave'll take ya'll straight to Fluressa City." Cletus said as he guided Ash and Misty to the cave's entrance. "The whole town of Evergreen Planes is in great debt to you two." He added, giving a nod to both Ash and Misty.

"I think we can call it even after all that great food you gave us." Ash chuckled.

"I guess we can." Cletus returned the chuckle. "But you two are always welcome here, and we'll be cheering for ya at the Master League, Ash." The rancher then extended his hand towards the trainer, Ash extending his. As the two took grip of each other's hands, they shared a firm handshake. "Good luck, Ash."

"Thanks." He replied. "We'll be sure to come back and visit one day."

Misty leaned over Ash's shoulder. "And maybe next time our dance won't be interrupted." She said jokingly, giving Ash a playful wink.

Ash turned a bright shade of red when she said this. "Yeah, you wish." He replied coolly.

The redhead gave him a smirk. "We'll see Ash." She said in an almost whimsical tone as she made her way towards the cave entrance.

"What do you mean _"We'll see_"?" Ash looked over at her with a puzzled look. However the Cerulean gym leader was already dashing towards the cave.

"Last one to Fluressa has to buy lunch!" She shouted to him as she entered the cave.

"Oh I don't think so!" Ash shouted back with a smile as he began perusing her into the cave, both of them laughing the entire time.

Alrighty, next stop Fluressa City, and the first gym battle!

* * *

Hopefully the next chapter will be up and ready to go by 6:00 or 7:00 tonight. I'll see you guys then!


	7. A Toxic Confrontation

Alright, here we go with the first gym battle. Sorry if it doesn't seem as "epic" as it should be. I realize that facing a member of the Elite Four would call for an epic battle, but for the sake of pacing the battle can't be _too_ epic. Otherwise the climactic battles near the end of the story won't seem as well… climactic.

Well, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Fluressa City was a very traditionalistic place. Many of the structures were built in an old, east Asian style. However, there were a few office buildings were scattered throughout the city. The populace seemed to also embrace the same traditionalistic style that the city boasted. Many of its citizens wore kimonos and sandals, though a good handful also wore standard suit and tie business suits.

The two trainers trekked down the streets of Fluressa City, observing the beautifully crafted buildings as they past them. The streets were also lined with a few stores as well, some of which caught the Cerulean Gym Leader's attention. Misty especially couldn't help but admire all of the traditional clothing stores they passed by. The redhead was quite a sucker for anything traditional, especially kimonos.

"Wow!" Her voice was filled with aw. "After your gym battle, we should go shopping."

"Pika!" The mouse nodded in agreement, atop of Ash's head.

"You two can." Ash replied as put his hands behind his head, stretching his arms out. "I could go for a bite to eat first."

"Oh c'mon Ash, you'd look great in one of those robes." Misty said, pointing towards one of the blue male kimonos on display behind the store's window. Ash looked over at the robe she was pointing towards.

"Ya know Misty, you've been acting really weird lately."

"What do you mean?" She turned back to Ash as they continued down the sidewalk.

"Back in the old days you'd never try to make me do anything. If I didn't want to do something you'd just go on without me and not think twice about it." He gave her a bit of an inquisitive glare. "So what gives?"

The redhead didn't immediately respond. "Well," She finally spoke up. "I guess it's because without Brock to follow me around when you won't, I haveto drag you around if I want to go anywhere."

"Why do you _have_ to drag me around?" Ash was slightly puzzled by her statement.

"It's no fun doing stuff by yourself." She replied. "You don't like traveling alone, do you?"

"Well no, I guess not." Ash turned his head away from Misty, and focused on what was directly in front of him.

"You see what I mean then?"

Ash took in a deep breath, and then exhaled. "No."

Misty rolled her eyes, and began rubbing her temples with her thumb and index finger. "Of course you don't." She mumbled.

"Uh, Misty." Ash called out to her. "I think I found the gym." Before the two teens stood a very large green building. It was somewhere around three stories tall, and like many of the other buildings in Fluressa City, was built in a traditional east Asian style. Below the pointed roof, was a sign that read "Fluressa City Gym".

"Looks like it." Misty said in wonderment as she gazed at the beautiful structure standing before her. "Who do you think the gym leader is?"

"I don't know." Ash replied as he walked up to the wooden doors. "I guess we'll have to find out, won't we?" The trainer took hold of both door handles, and pulled them open, revealing a dark room inside of the structure. Ash and Misty both gave a slightly worried look to one another before entering the dark room. Inside was what looked to be a standard Pokémon battlefield. A tan dirt floor with white lines surrounding the boarder, as well as a Poké Ball outline in the center of the field.

The trainers cautiously stepped inside, closing the door behind them. The second the door closed, a male voice echoed from across the darkened battlefield. "And who might you be?" Ash and Misty both jumped upon hearing the voice.

"I..I'm Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!" He tried to sound tough.

"Ketchum?" The voice replied.

"Yeah, Ash Ketchum!"

"Well, well, well. It's been a while" The voice chuckled. Ash and Misty were slightly confused by what was going on. The voice was acting like it knew Ash. "I see you brought your redheaded friend too." Misty felt a chill up her spine when she heard this.

_Who is this guy?_ Misty thought, trying to keep her composure and not look too freaked out by the voice's eerie familiarity with the two.

"Who are you?" Ash shouted across the battlefield, trying to figure out who his combatant was.

The gym's lights turned on, brightening the entire battlefield. On side opposite of Ash and Misty stood a tall man with spiky black hair. He wore a black gi along with a red scarf which he kept wrapped around his neck. It didn't take long for the two to be able to match his face with a name.

"Koga?!" The two exclaimed in unison.

"Pikachu!" The little mouse was just as surprised.

"I forgot you were one of the new members of the Elite Four." Ash said as he kept his eyes on the ninja.

Koga gave the two a nod. "So I take it you're here to compete for the Venom Badge?"

"Sure am!" The trainer was quite egger to battle. "I beat you before for the Soul Badge, and I can beat you again for the Venom Badge!"

The ninja cracked a grin. "Don't get too zealous. I won't be holding anything back _this_ time." Ash's expression grew serious as he heard the ninja speak these words. "This will be a two versus two battle." Koga began to explain. "You can withdrawal your Pokémon at any given time." He paused. "Are you clear with the rules?"

Ash gave a nod. "You bet!" A smirk crossed Ash's face, a smirk Misty hadn't seen in a long time.

"Go get em' Ash." Misty whispered into her friend's ear before making her way to the sidelines. She couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia at seeing Ash getting into a gym battle again. To make it even more nostalgic, he was getting into a gym battle with one of the first gym leaders he'd ever challenged.

Koga reached for one of the two Poké Balls on his belt, and tossed it onto the battlefield. "Go Venomoth!" The Poké Ball burst open, revealing the purple moth Pokémon.

_This brings back memories._ Ash thought, cracking a grin upon seeing the same Venomoth he had fought six years earlier.

"Well," Ash said as he reached for a Poké Ball. "don't mess with success!" Ash tossed the red and white orb onto the field. When it opened up it revealed the giant orange lizard that was Charizard.

Koga snickered. "You're Charmander has grown quite a bit since our last battle." He paused as he crossed his arms. "But my Pokémon have grown as well!"

"Good," Ash smiled. "I can't wait to see how strong they are!"

"You've got this Ash!" Misty cheered on from the side. As she did so, a red light shot out from her backpack, releasing her yellow psychic and water type Pokémon, Psyduck.

"Psy." The yellow duck cried out as he tilted his head.

Misty glared at the Pokémon. "Get back in your Poké Ball!" She barked as she pulled up his respective Poké Ball to call him back. The duck turned to her and gave her a blank stare.

"Duck?"

Misty sighed as she looked at the Pokémon's clueless expression. Over the years Misty had gained the ability to interpret what the Pokémon's blank stares signified. This particular blank stare was a "please don't put me back in there." stare.

"Fine." She sighed. "You can watch the battle."

"Psyduck."

Ash chuckled at the occurrence going on off to the side, before turning back to the battle that was about to ensue. "Charizard!" He called out to his loyal fire type. "Take that Venomoth down with a flamethrower!" Charizard let out a roar, signifying acknowledgment of his master's command. The dragon-like Pokémon opened up its giant jaws and unleashed a barrage of flame towards the purple moth.

Koga showed no concern by this. "Venomoth, use agility." At his command, Venomoth began soaring towards Charizard at blinding speeds, while at the same time shifting out of the way of Charizard's stream of fire.

_Wow, that thing's fast._

"Charizard! Meet it head on with steel wing!" Charizard closed his giant jaws, ending the stream of searing hot flame. His wings then began to glow with a brilliant light as steel began to cover his giant wings. Charizard then took flight and zoomed towards the purple moth.

"Venomoth, you know what to do!" As Charizard's razor sharp wings drew in closer and closer to Venomoth, the bug type Pokémon caught a draft of wind under its wings, allowing it to soar upwards and fly directly above Charizard.

The fire type continued flying forward, trying to slow down to a halt, finally landing directly in front of Koga on the other side of the field, while Venomoth came to a halt on Ash's side of the field. After Charizard's giant feet slammed into the ground, a small quake could be felt all across the battlefield. The winged lizard then turned around to face Venomoth, but the second he tried to move, his was halted. His entire body felt like it had been locked in place.

"What's going on?" Ash had a bewildered look spread across his face.

"Oh no!" Misty cried out. "His Venomoth must have used stunspore when it flew over Charizard!"

"Psy." Psyduck said in what Misty assumed was worry.

"Charizard, you have to shake it off!" Ash called out to him. Charizard began to fight against the paralysis inducing powder, just managing to shake off enough of it to keep his movement from being hindered… for the moment.

"Venomoth," Koga called. "Hit him with a psybeam while it's still weak!" the purple moth's three antennae began to glow in a brilliant light as a powerful blast of psywaves fired from the crest on its head.

Charizard's otherwise impressive speed was too hindered by the stun spore for him to move out of the way, allowing Venomoth to get a direct hit on the fire type with the psybeam. The orange lizard stumbled back as the blast made contact, somehow managing to shake off the blunt of the attack.

"Impressive." Koga praised Ash and his Pokémon. "Not many can take Venomoth's psybeam directly and still stand afterwards." His expression then became much more serious. "Venomoth, charge up for a signal beam!" Venomoth's antennae began to glow once more.

"Charizard! Stop it with wing attack!" Charizard quickly raised itself into the air once more, shaking off the stun spore which was still hindering his movement. The dragon-like Pokémon screamed across the air, zeroing in on the purple bug type. Once within range, Charizard's wings began to glow in a brilliant light as he came within striking range of the moth.

"Venomoth fire now!" Koga cried out, surprised by Charizard's speed. Venomoth then fired the ill prepared signal beam, hitting Charizard point black in the face. However, Charizard's rush wasn't a complete waste, as he was able to swipe across Venomoth with his left wing before getting hit by the blast. Once the two attacks made contact, both Charizard and Venomoth were sent flying back, making grunts and moans as both of them landed square on their backs.

Ash and Koga both looked on with concern as neither Pokémon moved for a moment. Misty and Psyduck also looked on, momentarily speechless.

"Psy."

"You're right Psyduck," Misty replied, assuming he was talking about the battle. "that Venomoth must be really powerful if it was able to knock Charizard onto his back." There was a hint of concern in her voice.

"Duck?"

"C'mon Charizard! You've got to get up!" As these words entered Charizard's ears, the orange lizard slowly began staggering back onto his feet. "Good job Charizard!" Ash cried out, proud of his Pokémon's strength.

"Pika pi!" Pikachu's voice mimicking his master's tone.

"That's impressive." Koga snickered. "But this round isn't over yet." The ninja nodded towards his Venomoth who quickly began flapping its wings, lifting itself back up into the air, seemingly unaffected by Charizard's powerful wing attack."

"What?!"

"What?!"

"Pika!"

"Psy."

Koga chuckled at their astonishment that his little moth could take a direct hit like that. "I've trained Venomoth both physically and mentally. His body is as hard as stone and his mind is as strong as a rushing river."

"Yeah, well let's see how strong he is after this!" Ash shouted as he pointed directly at Venomoth. "Use flamethrower!" Charizard's jaws opened once more, unleashing a stream of scorching hot flames directed at his opponent.

"Counter it with gust!" Venomoth began flapping its wings frantically as the stream of flame began drawing closer and closer to the bug type. As the wind picked up, the stream of fire began to disperse before it could ever reach Venomoth. However, the wind created by Venomoth continued rushing towards Charizard, doing nothing more than grazing the lizard. Yet despite the lack of power in the attack, a look of pain crossed the fire type's face as he began to buckle over and fell onto one knee.

"What's going on?!"

Koga smiled. "Venomoth's poison powder has become very potent in these past few years. It is so powerful that even a simple gust of the toxic powder can bring the strongest of Pokémon to their knees."

Ash let out a gasp. "Oh no!" He looked over at his powerful friend, and saw that the poison circulating through his veins was quickly taking a toll on him. Ash began to reach for his Poké Ball so he could recall him, while Pikachu stood on the ready to jump into battle. But Charizard wasn't going to have any of that. The dragon-like Pokémon looked up at his master and shook his head at the idea of being withdrawn from battle.

"Y..You want to keep battling?" Ash was slightly shocked to see his Pokémon's willingness to continue the battle. Charizard nodded.

"What?" A look of disbelief overtook Koga's face. "No Pokémon ever continues after taking a direct hit from Venomoth's poison powder!" Koga began to growl in frustration. "Let's finish this then!" He shouted. "Venomoth, go in for a point blank Psybeam!" Venomoth then darted towards Charizard. As the bug type soared through the air, its antennae started to glow once again.

"Charizard!" Ash called out to his weakened, yet strong willed Pokémon. "Use fire spin!" Charizard's tired expression quickly snapped into one of determination as He began breathing out a stream of fire that began to spin to a tornado of fire. The wind from the tornado caused Venomoth to loose control as the bug type was pulled in by the powerful winds created by the spinning inferno.

"No, Venomoth!" Koga cried out as he saw his Pokémon vanish into the blaze. The fire continued raging on for a few seconds after Venomoth was sucked it, until Ash finally called off the attack. As the tornado died down, Venomoth fell from the center of the tornado and landed flat on its back, unconscious.

"He did it!" Misty cried out in joy as she picked up Psyduck and gave him a hug.

"Psyduck." The Pokémon replied, still gripping its head.

Meanwhile on the battlefield, Ash looked over at his tired Charizard and saw there was no way he could continue to battle after being poisoned as badly as he was. "Come back Charizard." Ash said as he pointed his Poké Ball at the giant lizard, returning him to the red and white orb. "You did a great job." Ash then looked up at Koga, who was recalling his Venomoth. "Koga!" The trainer from Pallet called out. The ninja turned his attention to the black haired trainer. "Charizard's really hurt. There's no way I can let him continue battling." He paused as he put Charizard's Poké Ball back onto his belt. "So how about we let this last round determine the winner?"

Koga gave a respectful nod. "I admire your love and concern for your Pokémon." He then looked back up at Ash as he reached for his second Pokémon. "Fair enough, this round will determine the winner." He said as he drew back to toss his Poké Ball. "Go Crobat!"

The red and white orb opened, revealing the four winged, purple bat. It let out a screech upon its release, signifying its readiness to battle.

"Pikachu." The little mouse cried out, ready to get into battle.

"No, Pikachu." The yellow rodent was taken back by his master's words.

"Pika?"

Off to the side, Misty looked on, also puzzled by Ash's choice. "Why would he not use Pikachu? Crobat is a flying type."

"Psy." The yellow duck looked up at his trainer.

The redhead beamed down at him. "Nobody asked you!"

Ash looked down at his loyal companion. "Just trust me on this, okay buddy?"

Pikachu, though hesitant, gave a reluctant nod.

"Thanks Pikachu." Ash said as he turned back towards the battlefield. "Sceptile, I choose you!" Ash tossed his Poké Ball, releasing the green lizard from captivity. The lizard stood tall, coolly holding a twig in the side of its mouth. "Sceptile, you've got this!" Ash cheered on.

_A Sceptile, not a bad choice._ Koga contemplated. _Being a grass type it won't be as badly affected by poison, but at the same time Crobat still has an advantage with his flying abilities… What's he planning?_

"Sceptile!" Ash shouted. "Let's start this off with an energy ball!" Heeding Ash's orders, Sceptile began charging a green ball in front of it's mouth, aiming it directly at the Crobat flying above.

"Crobat, dodge it and counter with swift." As Sceptile fired the energy ball, Crobat effortlessly moved out of the way, and then began flapping all four of its wings, sending out a series of stars towards the grass lizard. As the stars came close to making contact, Sceptile lifted up his left arm and used it to shield himself from the attack. For each star that hit, Sceptile was knocked back about an inch or so. However, he was able to easily shake off the attack.

The gym leader made a smirk. "Good, now use wing attack!" Koga ordered. The bat Pokémon's wings began to shine in the light as it soared downward towards the grass type.

"Sceptile, counter it with leaf blade!"

"Sceptile." The Pokémon nodded as the leaves on its forearms began to shine just as brilliantly as Crobat's wings. He shifted into a fighting stance, ready to lunge at the bat when he came in close enough. Koga squinted his eyes as he saw this.

"Poison fang now!"

"What?" Ash was completely caught off guard by his call, so was Sceptile. Crobat then drew in nearer towards the lizard,. Though Sceptile was able to get in a hit with his leaf blade with his right forearm, Crobat had managed to chomp down onto his hand in the process.

"Sceptile!" It cried out as his opponent's fangs sank into his hand, sending its toxin into the lizard's veins. Fortunately, the poison proved to be completely ineffective to the grass type Pokémon.

"Sceptile!" Ash cried out, both because of worry and also because he was calling out an order. "Slam him on the ground!" Sceptile then lifted his right hand up into the air, Crobat still latched on, and smashed the bat onto the hard packed dirt that made up the battlefield. When the purple bat made hard contact with the ground, it let out a cry of pain and quickly loosened its grip on Sceptile's hand before taking off back into the air.

"Crobat, make sure it can't pull anything like that again!" Koga called out. "Use confuse ray!" The bat's eyes focused in on Sceptile's yellow eyes, sending psychic waves meant to confuse the lizard.

"Sceptile, don't look at it in the eyes!" Ash shouted to his Pokémon. "stir up a leaf storm, and you know what to do after that!" Sceptile looked back at his trainer and gave him a nod. The grass type then stirred up a wave of razor sharp leaves and shot them towards the purple bat, obscuring Crobat's line of sight with the Pokémon

"Crobat!" Koga shouted out, worried that his Pokémon would be blindsided by the attack. "Use agility to dodge the leaves!" Crobat then without hesitation began to use its nimbleness to evade the series of sharp leaves that flew by.

_Just what I wanted him to do._ Ash smirked.

Meanwhile on the battlefield, Sceptile had vanished amongst the leaf storm. Koga took no notice of this since all of his attention was focused on Crobat. While he was distracted, Sceptile then began using sunny day, brightening the entire gym with a brilliant bright light.

"Did you see that Psyduck?" Misty asked, her voice filled with wonderment, taking note of the strategy she could see the black haired trainer was using. Ash had gotten a lot better since she last saw him. The Ash she traveled with four years ago would have _never_ been able to plan out something like this.

As the light from sunny day started to brighten, Crobat became blinded by the brilliant light coming from above. Since it could no longer see, it could also no longer dodge the series of leaves that zoomed by it. As each leaf cut into his Crobat, Koga felt a sharp pain in his side, knowing that with each hit, his loyal partner was growing weaker and weaker. Once the leaf storm began to die down, he heard another order come from his challenger.

"Now Sceptile! Use leaf blade!" Sceptile jumped up from behind Crobat, the leaves on his forearms glowing brilliantly. Crobat was completely dazed between the leaf storm attack and the bright light shinning above him but his master's voice was still able to get through him in the daze.

"Crobat, use cross poison!"

"Oh no!" Misty cried out after hearing the order.

Crobat turned towards Sceptile, his four wings crossed. The second Sceptile was within reach of the purple bat, it unfolded its wings, creating a purple "X" that slashed square across Sceptile's stomach. The lizard fell from the air, and slammed down onto the ground, making a _thud_ as it hit.

"Oh no, Sceptile!" Ash exclaimed, worry filling his voice. "You've got to get up!" Sceptile began to scrounge itself back onto its feet, but Koga would not allow that.

"Crobat!" He called to his Pokémon, giving it his final order. "Finish it off with wing attack!" The purple bat began descending towards the green lizard, all four wings glowing. Sceptile was completely unable to counter the incoming attack.

Misty began to frown at the sight she was witnessing. "It's over." She sighed.

"Sceptile, use solar beam now!"

"What?!" Misty and Koga screamed in unison. The six yellow bulbs on Sceptile's back began to glow in a brilliant light as the rays from sunny day radiated onto him. Sceptile then looked up at the incoming Crobat and opened his mouth as wide as he could, revealing a blinding light. Crobat was stopped in its tracks as the light came into contact with its sensitive eyes. Then at point blank range, Sceptile unleashed all of the energy it had, completely engulfing the purple bat.

"No!" Koga shouted from the other side of the battlefield.

"Yes!" Misty screamed in glee as she picked up Psyduck to give him another hug. "He did it!" All the while Psyduck kept his blank expression.

"It's not over yet…" Ash growled as the amazingly bright light from Sceptile's solar beam began to die down. Once the light was gone, everyone could see Crobat still barely flying. However, once the smoke had cleared, the bat could no longer sustain flight anymore, and fell to the ground.

Koga could have been upset about losing the battle. However, he felt no shame in losing, as this was without a doubt the best battle he had had in a long time. The ninja made a faint grin, and nodded towards the victor. "I know for a fact that one day you will make something of yourself, Ketchum." He said as he recalled Crobat. "But for today, you have earned yourself a badge." Koga said with a smile as he approached the center of the battlefield, Ash followed suit. Once the two met in the center, they both exchanged a firm handshake.

"That was a great battle." Ash praised the gym leader as Sceptile and Pikachu walked up next to him.

Koga nodded. "Indeed it was." He released himself from the handshake and reached into his gi. "Which is why you have earned this." He pulled out a purple badge that looked somewhat like a gas cloud, and handed it to Ash. "You have earned the Venom Badge."

"Thanks!" Ash took the badge in hand and pinned it to the inside of his jacket, just like the old days.

"That was an amazing battle, Ash!" Misty praised as her and Psyduck approached the two. Koga looked down and saw the yellow Psyduck.

"Ah," He said. "I see you've bred your Golduck." The ninja gave her a nod.

Misty was confused by his statement. "Uh, what do you mean?"

"This Psyduck is the offspring of the Psyduck from all those years ago, isn't it?" Koga gave her a perplexed look.

"Oh," Misty realized what he was saying. "No." She sighed. "This is still the same Psyduck."

Koga's eyes widened. "You mean after six years that Psyduck still hasn't evolved?"

_Gee, rub it in._ Misty thought as she let out another sigh.

"Don't worry Mist." Ash reassured, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he'll evolve soon." Psyduck looked up at Ash with his normal blank expression. "M..maybe just not anytime _too_ soon."

"Psy… Duck." The Pokémon seemed unconcerned by his words as Misty recalled him back into his Poké Ball.

"Well," Koga said, changing the topic of conversation. "I take it you'll be going to Chester Town next?"

"Sure am!" Ash exclaimed.

Misty on the other hand gave a sarcastic "Yay". She had heard that Chester Town was nothing more than one big mining town which presented nothing of interest to her. The redhead then turned to Ash and grabbed him by the arm "Now c'mon Ash, I want to take you shopping before we leave!" Misty said as she began pulling him out of the gym, Pikachu, and Sceptile following closely behind them.

"Wait, Misty what are you doing?" Ash seemed a bit confused as she dragged him out of the gym. "Uh… Bye Koga!" He shouted as she pulled the black haired trainer out of the gym.

Koga let out a grin. "I'll see you at the championship." Once the two left and the gym doors closed behind them, he shook his head while letting out a slight chuckle. "He sure does mean a lot to that girl."

* * *

Alright, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Tomorrow you guys might be in for another treat. I _might _be posting two chapters again tomorrow, though I'm still unsure about this. I hope the battle wasn't too confusing or underwhelming. If it was, I'll be sure to improve upon that in later battles.

Till tomorrow. See ya


	8. Big Trouble in Little Chester Town

Okay Everybody, so today I'm going to have a dark type beat the hell out of a fighting type, a steel type take a fire blast like a champ, and a water type shake off an volt tackle. But no, seriously. I'm really sorry for messing up like that in my last chapter, it was a careless mistake on my part for lumping poison and grass types into the same boat. To defend my main reasoning for using Sceptile was to more so focus on the aspect of him using "sunny" day and "solar" beam on a Cro"bat". For those of you who don't know, bats are not blind, but they are very sensitive to bright lights. When I fix up the chapter, I'm going to exemplify on that aspect of the fight more, and also have Sceptile become badly hurt after being poisoned. However that edit might not happen for a while.

Anyways... You guys are in for a treat today. You're not only getting two chapters posted today, but possibly... Three? The main reason for this was that this was originally a massive chapter and I felt that it was too long to read in just one sitting for a lot of people. So instead I broke this up into two chapters. As for the third chapter I'll be posting, it is a really short chapter so I felt that it needed to be uploaded alongside another chapter so it wouldn't seem so insignificant.

Well I hope you guys enjoy

* * *

"We're finally here!" Ash exclaimed.

"Pika!" his Pokémon added, joyous that they had finally reached the rocky mining settlement that was Chester Town.

"It only took us a week and a half to get here." Misty sighed, desperately urging to take a nice hot shower.

"Oh c'mon Misty, it wasn't _that_ bad was it? I mean we didn't run into any problems the whole way here." Ash looked back at the redhead, giving her a smile. "I'll tell you what how about we stop by a Pokémon Center and get rested up before the gym battle?"

The Cerulean City gym leader looked up at her friend with a drab expression. "I was planning on doing that anyways." Her tone was the slightest bit aggressive. "What makes you think I'd need you to go with me just to rest and get cleaned up at a Pokémon Center?"

Ash rolled his eyes. "Coming from the girl who back at Fluressa City said she didn't like doing things alone."

Misty glared at the trainer. "Just because I like to go shopping with someone doesn't mean I like taking a shower with someo-" Misty stopped dead in the middle of her sentence. It was one of those moments where she had said something before her mind could either stop her from saying it, or at the very least filter her words so it couldn't be taken out of context.

Both Misty and Ash's face turned a bright shade of red, both of them becoming so embarrassed that they had to turn away from each other just to keep the moment from becoming anymore awkward than it already was.

"Pika?" Pikachu looked on as the two teens turned bright crimson. The little mouse rolled his eyes and continued walking along side his master, paying no mind to their uncomfortable situation.

The two remained dead silent, not saying a word to one another all the way to the Pokémon Center, and even when inside the Center, Misty simply asked Nurse Joy if she could rent a shower to wash off, and then quickly made her way to the Center's washrooms without so much as saying a word to her traveling companion.

_That was weird._ Ash thought as he handed Pikachu and his five Poké Balls over to Nurse Joy. Just the very thought of him and Misty doing something like that was so…. Ash couldn't think of a way to describe it. He wanted to say that the idea of it appalled him, but it just didn't bother him that much. Not the idea of it at least. Maybe it was his teenage hormones getting the better of him. However, he just didn't feel as put off by the idea as he felt he should have. _She's just my friend._ He kept telling himself mentally as stepped away from the counter.

Meanwhile in the shower room, Misty began running shampoo through her slightly longer than shoulder length hair as the hot water ran across her skin, feeling like a warm, watery blanket as each drop washed away the dirt and grim she had picked up over the past few days.

However, she couldn't really enjoy the comfort the shower provided since all she could think about was how much she had just embarrassed herself. _Why did you have to word it like that, Misty?_ She let out a sigh as she began washing out the sweet smelling shampoo from her hair.

_What is Ash going to think of me now? _She felt a tinge of pain in her side at the thought of Ash being scared off by her ill thought out statement. She didn't mean to suggest anything, or even imply anything by what she said. She just was trying to make a point.

Unfortunately, she knew how Ash was, or at least what he was like when they were kids. He'd take the slightest and smallest thing out of context. The redhead began to think back to the time when she said _"Someday you and I will be married too, Ash." _when Brock was supposedly getting married. For four weeks after that Ash couldn't look her in the eye without blushing. Now that she put the thought of showering with him into his immature skull, he'd probably faint if she was so much as in the same room as him for too long.

But he had grown up since then, right? Misty certainly hoped so.

"Eh, it's no big deal I guess." The gym leader said to herself as she cut the water off. "I'll just let it go like nothing happened." She then grabbed her towel and began to dry off.

Back in the Pokémon Center's lobby, Ash had made a call to his Mom as well as Professor Oak to inform them on how his journey was going. The call with his Mom was pretty standard and formulaic. Ash called her, she said "It's so good to hear from you again". Then he told her everything was going well and that he was on his way to his next gym battle. Then she retorted with something along the lines of "good luck" or "I'm rooting for you" before saying "I love you," and "Please call soon".

Oak's call was much more interesting though. He told the Professor about his recent battle with Koga and that the gym leaders were all members of the Elite Four from across all four regions. Though not much to Ash's surprise, the Professor was already widely aware of this. What did surprise him though, was that it turned out Professor Oak himself was the one who had suggested the idea of hiring the Elite Four as the Gym Leaders for the Master League. The most interesting part of the conversation though, was when Oak told him a bit about Damian, the same Damian that Ash ran into at the orientation. Oak didn't sugar coat it at all by blatantly telling Ash that this guy was bad news for him. He had some of the most powerful Pokémon the league had ever seen, and the only reason he lost to Lance was because the champion's Dragonite managed to fight through a powerful confusion and hit Damian's Alakazam with a hyper beam. With that, Oak ended the call by wishing the black haired trainer the best of luck.

As the trainer stepped away from the videophone, he looked over and saw that Misty was exiting from the washroom, her hair still wet from her shower. As she approached him, Ash felt a pit in his stomach. He couldn't help but feel that he had to acknowledge what she had said earlier, even if what she said was just something taken out of context.

"Uh.. Misty?" Ash was a bit hesitant to speak.

"Yeah Ash?" Misty replied with a slightly worried tone. Somehow she knew that he was going to bring up what she said earlier, even though she had let it go. She was almost furious that he was going to bring it up. It was just a stupid, out of context comment that should have just been left alone, but _of course_ the immature trainer was going to bring it up.

"I just wanted to say sorry for well…. Freaking out over what you said."

Misty's eyes widened a bit, not expecting to hear that. "W..what?" She stuttered, not because of nerves, but because she was taken back by what he said.

"I shouldn't have freaked out over what you said, it was just a comment I took out of context." He said as he looked down at his feet, embarrassed.

The redhead cracked a smile. If this had been the Ash from six years ago, the rest of their trip in Zerra would have been an awkward nightmare. _This_ Ash though was a lot more mature than the one she remembered. "It's okay Ash." She reassured as she walked up closer to him and tilted his head up so he could look at her. "I was kinda embarrassed myself." She let out a giggled.

The black haired trainer began to grin.

However, the moment was interrupted as a cheery, warm voice echoed throughout the lobby. "Your Pokémon are ready to go." Nurse Joy called out to the two.

XXXXXXXXXX

The two teens approached the big, boulder shaped building that was the Chester Town Gym, both of them feeling a foreboding chill run of their spines as they grew near. If the structure itself was any indication of how powerful the gym leader was, then Ash was in for one heck of a battle. The gym was structured like a giant boulder with no other distinguishing features aside from that, other than the single black door at the base of the building.

"Good luck Ash," Misty said. "It looks like you're going to need it." There was a hint of worry for him in her tone.

The black haired trainer looked over at the redhead and rolled his eyes. "He can't be that tough!" Ash replied, trying to appear as macho as he could as he stomped up the stairs towards the door. "I'm ready for anything this gym has to throw at me! Nothing will stand between me and the Master League Championshi-" _"WAM!"_ When the trainer took hold of the doorknob, the black door flung open from the inside and slammed square into his face, knocking him flat on his back.

Misty and Pikachu began laughing uncontrollably as they made their way up the stairs, checking to make sure that he was okay. Before they could reach him though, a girl wearing a denim jacket with a green shirt underneath, stepped out from the inside of the gym. She had long brown hair and shinning hazel colored eyes. She looked like she was no older than fifteen or sixteen, about her and Ash's age. It didn't take much inspection for the redhead to realize that she was certainly not the gym leader.

"Oh no!" The brunet screamed looking down at Ash, who was still lying flat on his back. "I'm _so_ sorry!" She quickly got down on one knee to make sure the trainer was okay. The dazed trainer looked up at the girl as she cradled his head in her arms. Once he stopped seeing stars, and was able to get a good look at the girl, he was stunned by how pretty she was.

"H..h..hi." He greeted with a hokey grin spread across his face. "What's your name?" Misty and Pikachu could hear the wooing in his voice from halfway down the stairs. Though Pikachu was more or less indifferent about this, Misty began to feel a surge of resentment for the girl bubble in her stomach.

"What's your name?" The trainer asked, a grin still spread across his face.

The girl smiled. "My name's Serenity, what's yours?"

"My name is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town." His voice was like that of a thirteen year old being in the presence of a supermodel.

"It's good to meet you Ash." She replied, helping him back onto his feet. "I didn't hurt you or anything, did I?" Her worry was sincere.

"I'm fi-"

"He's fine!" Misty interjected, not meaning to come across as bitter as she did. "_We're _just here to get his next gym badge, then after that we'll be on our way." She added, standing between the two, hoping to end any future contact between the two.

"Oh, you're here for a gym battle too?" The brown haired girl gave a disheartened look to the two. "It turns out that Bruno is out for the moment."

_So Bruno is the gym leader._ Misty mentally noted.

As she said this, Ash began to frown. "Well where is he?" He asked, looking over Misty's shoulder to continue his conversation with the girl, much to the redhead's dismay.

Serenity looked past Misty to answer. "There was a collapse in the mines and there are some people trapped inside."

"Oh no! That's not good!" Misty gasped.

"Yeah, so Bruno is at the mines trying to save the miners." She paused. "So I'm heading to Gainesboro for a gym battle. I'll just come back here after this is all done and over with."

"You mean you're not going to help them?" Misty seemed almost appalled by the girl's lack of care for the people in danger.

She shrugged. "What can I do? It's been a month and I still have seven badges to get, I can't waste my time here if there isn't a gym battle to be had."

The Cerulean City Gym Leader began to feel that resentment in her stomach turn into detest. "That's really selfish, you know!" Misty barked at the girl. This caused both Ash and Serenity to jump back. "There are people that could die in those caves and instead of helping them, all you're worried about is getting your stupid gym badges!"

The brown haired girl glared at Misty. "Who are _you_ to judge me! You don't even know me!"

Misty got ready to say something else, but was stopped when she felt Ash's gloved hand place itself on her shoulder.

"Misty, you really shouldn't…."

"No!" She snapped, brushing off Ash's shoulder before turning back to the brunet. "Me and _my_ friend here are going to go help Bruno save those people, because we're decent human beings!"

Serenity gave her a disgusted look. "I'm out of here." She didn't try to hide her own detest for the redhead. As she made her way down the stairs, she turned back to Ash. "Hey Ash, you're not so bad." She said, causing the trainer from Pallet to blush. "But you really should ditch that girlfriend for someone who'd fit you a lot better." She snickered before turning away.

Misty turned her head to Ash to see a crimson blush spread across his face. She then gave him a hard smack on the back of the head.

"Don't tell me you're _really_ interested in that little witch!"

Ash grabbed the back of his head, covering the spot Misty just hit. "Hey!" He snapped. After a moment of rubbing the back of his head, he then responded to her question. "Why do you care?"

"Because…" She paused, trying to articulate her thoughts. "B..because I don't want for my friend to fall for someone like _that_!"

"How is who I like any of your business?" The irritation in his voice was quite apparent.

Misty let out a sigh. "Look, we can talk about this later." Misty said, giving him a serious look. "There are people in those mines who need our help."

Ash nodded. "Yeah, but I don't have that many Pokémon who can lift big boulders on hand right now."

"Call in Snorlax." Misty suggested.

Ash nodded once more. "Good idea." He said as he pulled out his Pokédex so he could request a transfer from Professor Oak. Once the request was sent, he looked back up at Misty. "Let's go!" With that, the two teens took off down the stairs, heading towards the mines.

XXXXXXXXXX

The outside of the mines was complete and utter chaos. News reporters had gathered around and rescue teams were working around the clock trying to get the survivors out. A team of Machokes had been sent in to help remove some of the boulders that had been blocking the entrance to the cave, while Bruno and his Machamp led the squad.

Ash and Misty ran up to the "Do Not Cross" line, immediately being stopped by Officer Jenny.

"No civilians!" She barked at the two.

Ash and Misty both began to plead with her to let them through. "I'm Ash Ketchum from the Sinnoh Top Four, and this is Misty Waterflower, the leader of the Cerulean City Gym, we can help!"

The officer shook her head. "I can't let any civilians through, it's too dangerous."

"I have a Snorlax and a Charizard!" Ash shouted, making sure his voice was heard over the noisy crowd behind him.

"And I have a Gyarados!" Misty added. "They should be able to really help out!"

The officer began to bite down on her lip. She knew a Snorlax would be really helpful, as it could lift far more weight than a Machoke or Machamp could. A Charizard could probably prove just as strong as well. Even a Gyarados could be helpful, since their jaws were so powerful they could practically disintegrate a giant boulder.

"Alright." She said reluctantly as she waved the two teens and the Pikachu through. "Go talk to Bruno and he'll tell you what to do." Ash and Misty nodded as they ran past her.

Bruno and his Machamp lifted another boulder off of the pile of rocks blocking the mine's entrance. They had been at this for about four hours now, and even so it looked like they had been no progress whatsoever. He turned around to toss away another boulder. As he did so, he could see the two teenagers and the little yellow mouse running towards him.

"Aw heck," He sighed. "Who let you through!?"

"We're here to help!" Misty shouted, aware of the urgency of the situation.

"Well help by staying out of the way."

Ash and Misty and even Pikachu shook their heads. "No," Ash refused. "We have Pokémon that could really help."

"Like what?" Bruno made no effort to hide his irritation.

The two trainers exchanged smirks as they reached for their Poké Balls.

"Go Snorlax! Go Charizard!"

"Go Gyarados!"

Upon the release of the three Pokémon, Bruno couldn't help but whistle in wonderment as he gazed at the three impressive Pokémon. Though the Snorlax was not much bigger than a standard Snorlax, its strength was always welcome. As for the Charizard and Gyarados, Bruno couldn't help but acknowledge the immense size of the two Pokémon, especially the Gyarados.

The Elite Four member nodded at the trainers. "Alright, there are some massive boulders near the base of the rubble that Gyarados could easily break." He then looked over at Ash's Pokémon. "As for those two, that Snorlax would be a great help to the team of Machoke that are removing boulders, and your Charizard would be great for getting rid of boulders we've already tossed, that way we can keep the ground clear."

The two trainers nodded and gave the orders to their respective Pokémon. After receiving the orders, they took off in different directions so they could go about fulfilling their duties. Bruno then looked over at the little yellow mouse.

"That Pikachu could be helpful too."

"Huh?"

"Pikachu?" The mouse was as puzzled as his trainer.

"Yeah," Bruno nodded. "We've made a small opening that your Pikachu could fit through. If he could scout around the inside of the cave that'd be great."

Ash looked down at his yellow friend. "Do you think you can do that Pikachu?"

"Pika pi!" There wasn't an ounce of hesitation or reluctance in his voice. After seeing his willingness to go, Ash reluctantly told his loyal friend to go search the inside of the cave.

"Be careful Pikachu." Ash called out to his Pokémon as the mouse jumped into the little opening, worry apparent in his voice.

XXXXXXXXXX

"You've got to be kidding." Jessie growled as she looked on at the site below through her binoculars. "Those two love-twerps are here!"

"Are you serious?" James snagged the binoculars from his partner, and looked through them, seeing that she was indeed telling the truth.

"I guess we betta' call it in." Meowth suggested as he peaked over the ledge they were hiding on to see three little dots atop the pile of rocks that blocked the mine's entrance, clearing out the pile, boulder by boulder. The talking Pokémon picked up his radio and called in to report what was going on. "Meowth here, do ya copy?"

"Team Rocket here, we copy." A static filled, female voice came through the speaker.

"We've got da twerps- I mean Ash Kethum and Misty Waterflower outside da cave with their Pokémon. It looks like they might be getten' in soona' than we expected."

There was a pause on the other line.

"Alright." The voice replied plainly. After that there was a long silence amongst everyone.

Jessie and James looked over at Meowth who had put down the radio.

"I miss the old days." James sighed.

XXXXXXXXXX

"What caused the cave-in?" Misty asked the massive Elite Four member as she tossed another rock to the side.

"I don't know." He grunted, grabbing a large boulder that had to have weighed more than Ash and Misty combined. "All I know is that earlier today there was a loud bang," He grunted again as he tossed the boulder to the side. "so I came here to see what was going on and I saw the mine's entrance was blocked."

"A bang?" Ash looked over at Bruno.

"Yeah, a bang." Bruno turned to the trainer. "Honestly, something about all this is really fishy."

"Yeah." Ash mumbled as he looked down at the boulders he stood atop of. He was already worried enough about Pikachu without the idea of the cave-in being an intentional act. If someone had done this intentionally, his yellow friend could be in a lot of danger.

XXXXXXXXXX

Pikachu squeezed through the little tunnel, finally making it into the mine. Despite the cave in, the lights that hung from the top of the cave remained operative, allowing the yellow rodent to see clearly. The mouse scurried across the cave floor, following the chain of lights hanging above. Pikachu figured that with any luck, the lights would probably take him to where the miners were trapped.

"Pika pi." The Pokémon called out, its voice echoing throughout the cave. The Pokémon stopped in his tracks, taking a moment to listen for any response. After waiting a few seconds without hearing any response, Pikachu assumed that either no one heard his call, or nobody was still alive to hear his call. Worried that the latter was a possibility, he hurried down the cave, hoping to find the miners safe and sound.

The deeper he got into the cave, the more mining equipment and machinery he passed. What struck him as odd though was that nobody was manning the equipment or even anywhere around it. Pikachu didn't know exactly what these tools were for, but from visual experience he remembered seeing humans use these machines. So the mouse assumed that the miners must have been somewhere close by if these tools were here. As the Pokémon started searching the area, he couldn't help but think he heard something. His ears perked up, listening for the sound he thought he had heard.

"Mmmph"

The little mouse heard the voice from afar. It sounded almost as if it was being muffled. He darted down the cave, in search of who this muffled voice belonged to. As he traversed farther and farther into the cave, the voice became louder and louder. Pikachu was now sure that he wasn't just hearing things, and darted around the corner of the cave to see who the voice was coming from.

As he turned the corner though, Pikachu was stunned by what he saw. Before him stood a squad of four men walking around, wearing black uniforms with a red "R" printed onto the torso of their uniforms. Aside from them was what looked to be a three man mining team, operating a giant drill that was digging into the cave floor. These miners also wore the same black uniforms with the red "R". Pikachu looked around the cavern some more, seeing a group of people tied up, all of them muffled by rags gagging their mouths. It didn't take long for Pikachu to piece together what was going on.

XXXXXXXXXX

With the help of Ash and Misty's Pokémon, the rocks blocking the cave's entrance began to dwindle away. Misty's Gyarados took another chomp of a giant boulder, crushing it with its powerful jaws. Snorlax used its immense strength to lift boulders so large that not even Bruno's Machamp could lift them, while Charizard took armfuls of boulders and flew away to toss them somewhere they'd be out of the way.

Misty began to smile as she wiped the dirt off of her face. "So much for my shower," She chuckled. "but it looks like we're almost through."

Ash and Bruno nodded. "It sure looks like it." His voice was very hopeful.

"We can stop digging." Bruno said as he tossed one last boulder to the side.

"But there's still a lot of rocks blocking the entrance." Misty said as she wiped a bead of sweat from her brow.

Bruno shook his head and gave a sly grin. "Just watch." Bruno hopped off the pile of rocks, Ash and Misty following behind him. "Machamp!" He called out to his four armed fighting type.

"Champ." It stomped up next to his trainer, waiting for his order.

"Machamp, use rock smash on that pile of boulders."

"Machamp." The Pokémon nodded as it made its way towards the gigantic pile of rocks. It then drew back one arm and balled its hand into a fist. Ash and Misty looked on as the four armed behemoth readied to throw the punch. Then in one smooth motion, he slammed his fist forward, making direct contact with the boulder. Once his fist collided with the rock, the boulder began to crack. The fine little cracks started to spread across the giant rock, causing its integrity to degrade. Then right before everyone's eyes, the giant boulder disintegrated into dust. When the rock shattered, all of the other boulders it was supporting fell to the ground, clearing the entrance to the cave.

"Oh wow!" Ash looked on in astonishment. "That was a lot of power!"

Bruno smirked, happy to hear the compliment. "C'mon." He said, his face growing serious again. "We've got miners to save. Ash and Misty nodded, and followed the Elite Four member into the cave, their Pokémon close behind them.

* * *

What's Team Rocket doing here? Why did they take those miners hostage? All questions will be answered... in like an hour or two.


	9. Rocket Rumble in The Chester Town Mine

Alright, I'm sorry for the delay. I was unexpectedly asked to run an errand. So I'm really sorry this second part took so long to post.

Anyways, back to where we left off.

* * *

"Well what do we have here?" One of the Rocket grunts chuckled as he walked over towards the yellow mouse. "We've got ourselves a Pikachu." The grunt took hold of his whip. "You may be weak now, but when Team Rocket gives you a thunderstone, you might be useful."

"Pikaaaa." Pikachu began emitting sparks from his red cheek pouches.

"Aw, ain't that cute?" The grunt cackled. "You think your some tough shi-"

"CHUUUU!" The little mouse zapped the grunt with a powerful surge of electricity, sending him flying across the cavern.

"What was that?" A stern female voice snarled as the grunt's screams echoed throughout the mine. The woman stomped over to the grunt who was lying on his back, groaning in pain. "What happened?" She barked. The grunt couldn't speak, only groan and weakly point towards Pikachu. The woman looked over at the little mouse and made a scowl.

Pikachu's heart began to race upon realization that he had become the center of attention for not just her, but all of Team Rocket. However, all she did was stare at the little mouse, no evil intent in her eyes. After glaring at the Pikachu for a moment, she snickered and turned back towards the downed grunt and kicked him in the side with her black, spiked high heels.

"You let a single Pikachu take you down?" She snapped at him.

"Um, excuse me M'am." One of the Rocket miners called out to her from across the cavern, getting her attention, causing her to cease the abuse of the low ranking Rocket member. "We've found it." The Rocket miner said with a toothy grin stretched across his face.

Her eyes grew wide as she dashed over to the dig site. "You better not be lying to me!" As she neared the dig site, the miner held up a shinning purple rock, and handed it to the woman. She greedily grabbed it with her white gloved hands, and her eyes began to shine upon seeing the stone up close. "This is it." She adored, her voice filled with wonderment. "This was the stone that birthed Me-"

"Stop right there Team Rocket!" A voice cried out from behind her.

Her, along with all of Team Rocket's grunts turned towards the origin of the voice, seeing two teenagers and Bruno from the Elite Four standing before them. Most of the grunts began to shake at the sight of an Elite Four member, but what made them shake even more was the Machamp, Gyarados, Snorlax, and Charizard standing behind the group.

"We're not going to let you get away with this!" Ash shouted out to the woman as his loyal Pikachu hopped up onto his master's shoulder, happy to be reunited with his trainer. "You think you can come in here and…" Ash stopped dead in the middle of his sentence. Once he got a good look at the woman holding the stone, he instantly was able to recognize her. She had shoulder length blonde hair that curled around the frame of her face, and atop her head was a red and white cap which had a very short brim.

"Domino!" Ash and Misty blurted out, recognizing her from the incident in Johto all those years ago.

Domino's eyes widened, confused as to how the two teens knew who she was. "Who are you two?!" She growled.

Ash and Misty both looked at each other, remembering that after the events that transpired on Mount Quena, she along with almost all of Team Rocket was left without any memory of the events that unfolded.

"That's none of your business!" Misty snapped. "But you certainly have a lot to answer for!" Gyarados slithered up behind Misty as she said this, and peaked its head over the gym leader, ready to protect her master.

"She's right." Bruno added. "You _do_ have a lot to answer for."

Domino snickered. "You're not exactly in any position to be asking questions now, are you?" She nodded her head towards all of the Team Rocket grunts who were holding their Poké Balls in hand, ready to battle.

Bruno smirked. "I don't think so." He replied, cracking his knuckles. "I'm going to guess that between all seven of these grunts you have ready for battle, they're all probably using low level Ratticate or Fearows. You on the other hand may be carrying a decent level Golem and a Rhydon." Domino's arrogant smile began to quickly dissipate. "We on the other hand have these Pokémon here, and many more on backup."

Domino sneered at the Elite Four member. "Team Rocket!" She roared. "Attack!"

All seven of the battle ready grunts threw out their Poké Balls, releasing two Fearows and five Ratticate, just as Bruno had expected. All of Team Rocket's Pokémon began to shake in fear though as they saw what their competition was.

"I've got this." Misty said, giving wink to Ash and Bruno. "Gyarados!" She called out to her loyal serpent-like Pokémon. "Wash them away with surf!" Gyarados began shooting out a large stream of water from its giant mouth, creating a wave as the water hit the cave floor. All of the Pokémon and their grunt masters began to run in fear as the tidal wave drew closer, this proved to be in vain as the massive wave washed all of them away.

"That's impressive." Bruno praised the water trainer. "I've never seen a surf used so effectively before." Misty blushed a little, happy to be praised by a member of the Elite Four.

"We've got a problem though." Ash said, getting their attention. "Where's Domino?" Among the washed up bodies and Pokémon that littered the cave, there was no trace of the blonde haired Elite Officer. "We need to find her." He said as he stepped over one of the grunts.

"Pika pi." Pikachu nudged on his master's collar.

"What is it Pikachu?" The little mouse pointed over to the group of tied up miners. "Oh," Ash felt a bit careless for forgetting about the miners they had gone in there to save to begin with. Seeing they were in need of help, He, along with Misty and Bruno ran over to the miners and started to untie them.

"Why is Team Rocket here?" Bruno asked as he pulled the cloths out of their mouths.

"I don't know," One of the miners said as he was cut free. "they just came in here, blew the entrance, and kept talking about some sort of ancient stone."

Misty looked over at the martial arts master. "Do you have any idea what that means?"

Bruno shook his head. "No, but it can't be good."

"Well we should go get her then!" Ash stood up and clenched his fist, ready to chase down the Rocket Operative. Bruno and Misty gave him a nod.

"All of you get out of here." Bruno ordered the now free miners. "The entrance should be clear now." With a nod, the group of miners ran off towards the entrance, not looking back. Once all of the miners rounded the corner, Bruno looked over at the two teens. "Let's go."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Why did they have to show up and ruin my plans?" Domino growled as she made her retreat towards the end of the mine. "And how did those two know me?" After a brief moment of contemplating, she decided now was not the time nor place to worry about such things.

As she neared the edge of the mine, she pulled out her direct radio which would get her into contact with her boss, Giovanni. "Giovanni," She gasped. "I've got the stone, now bring a helicopter to my location!" There was a brief silence before there was a response.

"Good, one is arriving now."

As Domino entered the final cavern of the mine, she began to shuffle through her Poké Balls, knowing that there was no way she was going to avoid a confrontation. She grasped two of the red and white orbs in each hand, and faced the entrance, ready to battle.

"You've got no where left to run!" Ash shouted out as the trio and their Pokémon closed in on her.

"Yeah!" Misty added. "Just give up now and it'll be a lot easier!"

Domino had a crooked smile cross her face. "We'll see about that." She said, tossing all four of her Poké Balls. "Go!" The four red and white orbs burst open revealing a team of Pokémon that even surprised Bruno. Standing before the three was a Feraligator, a Swampert, a Manectric, and a Rhydon.

Ash, Misty, and Bruno's Pokémon all stepped forward, ready to battle her four impressive opponents.

"All of you!" Domino barked. "You know what to do!" Upon hearing her command, all four of the Pokémon charged towards their opponents, showing no signs of stopping.

"Snorlax!" Ash cried out. "Stop them!" Snorlax stepped forward and reached around all of his opponents with his massive arms and held all four of the Pokémon at bay.

"Gyarados, help Snorlax out by taking out that Rhydon!" Misty ordered her monstrous Pokémon. Without any hessitation, Gyarados propelled itself forward, hitting the ground type square in the chest with its gigantic jaws.

"Machamp!" Bruno looked over at his loyal companion. "Get rid of that Manectric!" The four armed fighting type quickly ran up to the electric dog, and lifted him up into the air. "Now toss him away!" Machamp then turned towards one of the cavern's rocky walls, and threw the dog against a wall, knocking out the Pokémon as soon as it made impact with the rocky wall.

"Charizard," Ash looked over at his friend. "Sit this one out, I think Pikachu can handle this one." The dragon-like Pokémon looked over and saw that the only opponents left for him to fight were water types. He then gave his trainer a nod, agreeing with his judgment. "Pikachu!" Ash shouted out. "Use thunder on Feraligator!" The little mouse began charging up electricity, directing its focus on the giant water type. "Snorlax!" Ash called out to his giant friend. "Let go of Feraligator!" Snorlax quickly let go of the giant alligator Pokémon and focused all of his attention on Swampert. After doing so, Pikachu unleashed all of his energy on the water type. A powerful charge of electricity surged through the water type's body, causing it to fall onto its back, unable to continue battling.

With only Swampert left, Snorlax picked up the water and ground type, and delivered a powerful slam by using his immense strength. As Swampert's body slammed against the cold, hard, cave floor, it was instantly rendered unconscious.

"So much for your Pokémon." Bruno laughed as he watched Misty's Gyarados finish up its fight with Rhydon, by blasting it with a hydro pump.

Domino began backing herself against the wall of the cave. She looked up and saw the trainers and their Pokémon growing closer and closer to her. There was no way she could slither her way out of this situation. There was nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide.

"We're here." A static filled voice emitted from the radio strapped to her waist.

Now there was.

With a loud _"Bang"_, the ceiling of the cavern was blown open by a huge explosion, shaking the entire cave as rays of sunlight peaked through the newly developed hole in the roof of the mine. The trio looked up to see that a black helicopter with a red "R" painted on the side was hovering just outside of the newly created hole in the cave's ceiling.

"Well," Domino said with a smile on her face. "This is where I get off." She pulled out all four of her Poké Balls and returned all of her Pokémon before pulling out her grappling hook and shooting it directly upwards, latching onto the helicopter hovering above.

Before either one of the trainers could stop her, she had already began her accent upwards as the grappling hook retracted, lifting her up to the chopper. "We won't meet again." She cackled.

"We'll see about that!" Ash shouted as he watched her ascended out of reach. He then turned towards his giant winged lizard. "Charizard let's go!"

Misty grabbed him by the shoulder. "Ash, you can't do that!"

"Why not?!" He almost seemed appalled by her statement.

"Because," Bruno said as he pointed towards Domino's left hand. "if you do, we all die." In her hand was a detonator which her thumb eagerly rubbed against, ready to blow the entire mountain if either one of them even thought of following her.

Seeing this, Ash called off his Charizard, and sneered at the blonde haired Elite Officer as she entered the helicopter, and flew off into the distance, out of view.

"It's okay, Ash." Misty placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "We saved a lot of people today."

"She's right." Bruno added. "And if it wasn't for your Snorlax, her Pokémon would have easily overwhelmed us."

Ash nodded silently, still a bit upset that she got away. This wasn't the Jessie and James Team Rocket that just got away. This was _The_ Team Rocket. This wasn't the comedic, sometimes even kindhearted crooks that followed him around for the past six years. This was the crime syndicate that the world feared, and one of their Elite Officers just escaped from their grasp.

"Alright." Ash mumbled. "Let's go."

XXXXXXXXXX

The sun had started to set on Chester Town. Though the miners had been saved, the entrance to the mine was even more chaotic than when the two teens had first arrived. Ambulances, police cars, fire trucks. It seemed like every first responding squad in all of Chester Town as there… Which probably was indeed the case. Meanwhile outside of the "Do Not Cross" line was a sea of news vans and reporters, all trying to get the first glimpse of the events that just transpired.

"You two were a great help." Bruno praised the two teens, who were sitting on the back of one of the ambulances, taking sips of hot coco as the paramedics checked over them to make sure they hadn't suffered from any serious injuries while fighting Team Rocket. "Which is why both of you have earned the Power Badge." The Elite Four member said as he pulled out two fist shaped badges from his pocket.

Misty took a sip of the coco, and then gave Bruno a perplexed look. "Um, excuse me Mr. Bruno, but I'm not competing in the Master League." She explained.

Bruno grinned. "Who said it's for the League?" He handed the redhead the badge. "The world should know that you are among the best trainers in the world, and even impressed the master of fighting type Pokémon.

Feeling honored to be praised by a member of the Elite Four, Misty smiled as she took the badge. "Thank you very much Mr. Bruno."

"Please, just call me Bruno." He replied with a smile. He then looked over at Ash who was sitting next to the redhead. "You deserve one as well.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry Bruno." He looked up at the martial arts master. "But I can't accept it."

"Why not?" He looked puzzled by the black haired trainer's decline.

"I want to be a Pokémon Master." Ash said as he looked up at the massive man. "I don't want to get there just because I did something that any decent human being would have done. I want to prove that I am the best Pokémon trainer in the world, and that means beating you in battle."

Bruno nodded, respecting Ash's sense of honor. "Well come with me to my gym, and we'll have a battle right now." After hearing this, Ash lowered the cup of coco, and a smirk crossed his face.

"You lead the way."

XXXXXXXXXX

The Team Rocket helicopter soared across the sky, Domino seated in the back, grasping the purple stone in her right hand. In the left was a cell phone which she had pressed against her ear. "Yes Mr. Giovanni." She spoke into the receiver.

"So the stone was retrieved without issue?"

"Of course, of course." Domino cracked a grin. "Though there was some interference from Bruno and two pesky trainers."

"I hope they didn't prove to be too much of a problem."

"They took out a team of grunts, but that's it." She gazed at the stone. "Nothing of value was lost though."

"Good."

The Elite Officer lowered the stone, and began to stare off into the sunset from the helicopter's window as one last thing crossed her mind. "There was one thing though."

"And that was?"

"The two trainers, I think Agent Meowth referred to them as Ash Ketchum and Misty Waterflower. They knew my name…" She paused. "Well my codename at least." There was a momentary pause on the other line.

"Strange." He paused. "It wouldn't surprise me if they had something to do with the Mount Quena incident from four years ago."

"Maybe." She frowned slightly. "I'm going to order Agents Jessie and James to focus all of their reconnaissance on those two trainers." She took a deep breath, and exhaled. "I want to know as much as I can about those two little brats."

* * *

Well, that sums up this little chapter. As for the next chapter. I really would like to post the next one tonight, however since I got delayed in posting this one, I might just have to save it till tomorrow since I still need to revise it. I'm sorry if that proves as an inconvenience to you, but that would also mean two more chapters will be posted tomorrow. However I might still post it tonight, but if it's not up by 9:00, then don't hold your breath.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this little adventure, and I hope with that little battle at the end, I redeemed myself of knowing type effectiveness after that little 4 vs 4 fight. (Note: I didn't have Pikachu try to shock Swampert!). All seriousness though, I don't think I'll ever live that chapter down.

Anyways, I hope you guys liked the read, and I hope to see you guys some more later tonight. If not, then I'll see you all tomorrow!


	10. No Holds Barred Pokébrawl!

I was feeling like you guys deserved for me to throw you another bone, so here we are, the third chapter of the day. This one is another short one, but after this, chapters are going back to their normal length.

Also, some people have been saying that they would like for there to be a bit more Ash and Misty stuff. This will come in due time (Next Chapter). However, I would like for all of you to keep in mind that this is listed as "Adventure/Romance" not "Romance/Adventure". This does mean that sometimes the romance will be taking a back seat to the adventure aspect of the story, however I promise you that the romance aspect will receive just as much attention as the adventure aspect. (I'm actually currently writing a very lengthy chapter focusing on nothing but Ash and Misty).

Well, enjoy everybody!

* * *

"Are you ready to battle?" Bruno shouted from across the gym. The battlefield the battle was being held on wasn't as plain as the one in Koga's gym. The floor was covered in rocks and gravel. It somewhat reminded Ash and Misty of the battlefield in the Pewter City Gym.

"You better believe it!" Ash shouted back. The rules were clear, a one on one match. No substitutions, and following more traditional rules of martial arts, if a Pokémon was knocked out of the battlefield, it would automatically lose.

Off in the empty bleachers, Misty sat with Pikachu resting in her lap, Ash once again had told his yellow friend to sit this one out. Though this time the electric rodent had no objections to the idea, knowing that Bruno's fighting type Pokémon could easily overpower him. The Cerulean Gym Leader looked down at the mouse and began scratching him behind the ears, causing the little Pokémon to let out a squeak as he began kicking his leg.

"Alright then." Bruno nodded at his competitor. "Machamp, get out there!" The four armed fighting type was already out of his Poké Ball, and stepped onto the battlefield, cracking all sixteen knuckles as he did so.

"Champ!"

Ash started to contemplate on which one of his Pokémon would be best suited for the fight. Charizard could be strong enough, but Machamp probably knew a few rock based moves. Sceptile sacrificed durability for nimbleness, so in an up close fight he wouldn't last long. Then there was Snorlax. The giant Pokémon would be more than strong enough to hold its own against a Machamp. It was definitely the most durable Pokémon he had, and if the rock smash Machamp had preformed earlier that day was any indication of how strong it was, then this thing could certainly dish out a lot of pain. Knowing this, Ash figured it would be best to pick a Pokémon that could withstand a lot of abuse.

"Go Snorlax!" The black haired trainer tossed the red and white sphere onto the battlefield, releasing the often sleeping Pokémon. Much to Ash's satisfaction though, Snorlax didn't need to be awakened upon his release. The gargantuan Pokémon stood tall over Machamp, and was without a doubt much stronger when it came to brute strength. However, speed was certainly not something that was on his side.

"Machamp," Bruno gave the first command. "weaken that Snorlax with brick break!" The fighting type acknowledged his master's command, and rushed towards the fat normal type, his upper right fist glowing.

"Snorlax, stop him with a body slam!" Snorlax nodded, and began running towards Machamp, causing the rocky ground to shake with each step the humongous Pokémon took. Bruno's Machamp showed no intent of stopping his attack and going for a counter instead, as the monstrously huge Pokémon charged his way.

The two rushed towards each other, and upon meeting in the center, Snorlax jumped up into the air, spreading his arms out as his gigantic body began to fall onto the fighting type. Seeing that the normal type was about to drop all of its weight on him, he lunged his glowing fist towards the gargantuan Snorlax, hitting him square in the stomach.

"Oh no Snorlax!" Ash cried out, hearing Snorlax grunt in pain as the mighty fist smashed into his stomach.

If that wasn't enough, by some amazing feat of strength, Machamp had managed to hold Snorlax suspended in the air by holding him up with the same fist he punched the giant Pokémon with. The painful expression was quite apparent on the normal types face, as it groaned upon having all of its weight collide with the four armed Pokémon's powerful punch.

"No way!" Ash couldn't believe the sight before him.

"Machamp, use your strength to throw Snorlax out of the battlefield!" Bruno was not wasting any time with this fight.

Machamp then used the strength of all four of his arms to hold the giant Snorlax over his head. The fighting type then turned to the nearest edge of the ring, and prepared to toss it out of bounds.

Ash had to think quick, if he didn't react soon, his Snorlax would have been tossed out of the ring and that would be the end of the match. It was quite clear that Machamp was having to use all of his strength to hold up the gargantuan Pokémon. If there was much more weight above him, there'd be no way he could hold him up.

An idea hit him.

"Snorlax! Use harden!" Snorlax quickly responded, engulfing itself in a white light, causing his skin to become nearly as tough as stone. This in turn also raised his overall weight and density. Below him, Machamp's arms began to shake as the weight above him grew to the point that it became too much for him to hold. The four armed fighter tried to quickly toss Snorlax out of the battlefield, but as he tried to toss it, his knees buckled. The second Machamp's strength had vanished, the one thousand plus pound Pokémon dropped on top of him, smashing him.

Misty jumped up from her seat "Yes!"

"Pika pi!"

Ash on the other hand still didn't think it was over, and judging by the calm expression on Bruno's face, he _knew _it wasn't over yet. Then sure enough, Snorlax was lifted up just the slightest bit, and tossed to the side by the fighting type, freeing himself from underneath Snorlax.

Both Pokémon remained on the ground for a moment though. Snorlax still hurting from the punch it received, and Machamp still recovering from being smashed by over a thousand pounds. The two began struggling to their feet, taking deep breaths as they tried to shake off the damage that had been dealt to them.

"Snorlax," Ash called out to his giant normal type. "you've got to hold in there. I know you can beat him!" Snorlax, breathing heavily, looked over at his trainer and friend, and gave him a nod.

"Machamp," Bruno shouted. "That Snorlax may be tough but I know you can take him down with no problem!" The fighting type cracked all of his knuckles once again as he faced the giant Pokémon. The two locked eyes with one another, and then rushed towards each other once more. Once the two collided for the second time, they both locked into a test of power, Snorlax holding Machamp's upper arms with his gargantuan hands, while Machamp tried pushing back Snorlax with his immense strength. "Now we got him just where we want em'!" Bruno shouted.

Ash looked down to see the hands of Machamp's lower arms balling up into fists. "Uh oh."

"Decimate that Snorlax!" Machamp then began throwing a series of blindingly fast punches into Snorlax's round belly, making loud _thuds_ each time his fists collided with the normal types. Though Snorlax's durability was quite remarkable, there was no way he could continue to take hits like this for an extended period of time.

"This isn't good." Misty's mouth was slightly agape. "Snorlax can't let go of Machamp, but he can't just sit there and let him keep punching him either." A scowl then crossed her face as she leaned against the rails. "Ash!" She shouted. "You've got to hurry up and do something! Snorlax can't take much more!"

Ash knew Misty was right, if he didn't do something, Snorlax would be out in no time. The trainer tried to think quick. He would just tell Snorlax to harden, but his skin couldn't get much thicker than it already was. Even if it could, Ash would only be stalling his imminent defeat. As Snorlax's cries of pain filled his ears, he knew that he had to get him out of there _now_. He looked at how close the two were to each other, particularly their heads. It looked like Snorlax and Machamp's faces were only mere inches away from each other.

_I've got it!_

"Snorlax," Ash shouted, Snorlax's little ears perking up upon hearing his master. "Use headbutt! Without hesitation, the giant normal type smashed his head against Machamp's skull, causing him to cease his series of punches. "Now," Ash called out another command, seeing that his opponent was dazed. "keep hold of him and use hyper beam!"

Bruno's eyes widened. "Machamp! Get out of there!" The fighting type tried to struggle out of Snorlax's powerful grip as the normal type opened up its mouth, revealing a brilliant light that began to grow brighter and brighter. Despite the powerful Pokémon's efforts to break itself free, they all proved to be in vain.

Snorlax unleashed the powerful beam, blasting the Machamp at point blank range. As the white beam of light engulfed him, Snorlax let go of the Pokémon, allowing it to fly back as the force of the beam sent it soaring across the battlefield, and hopefully out of bounds.

"Yes! He did it Pikachu!" Misty jumped up with glee, certain that there was no way that even the most powerful of Pokémon could still fight after taking a hit that powerful from that close.

"Pikachu!" The mouse seemed to be just as happy.

Even Ash couldn't help but smile as the rocky battlefield became engulfed in smoke and dust. "I think that's it Snorlax." He said to his companion. "Good job buddy."

"Snore." The giant normal type turned to his trainer and gave him a smile. "Lax."

"Use cross chop!" Bruno shouted from behind the smoke.

"What?!" Ash and Snorlax turned towards the smoky battlefield and saw a glowing white "X" behind the thick dust. Machamp leapt out from behind the smoke, his upper forearms crossed, glowing brilliantly.

"Maaaaaaa…" He soared across the air, closing in on Snorlax, Ash unable to react in time to give a command. "Champ!" The Pokémon's forearms smashed directly across Snorlax's massive body, sending him flying back upon making contact, just barely staying in bounds.

Snorlax laid flat on his back, unmoving as Machamp stood tall over him. Ash was completely dumbstruck by the fighting type's ability to first withstand being crushed by a Snorlax, and then continue fighting after taking a direct hit from a hyper beam. Though the attacks had certainly taken a toll on the four armed fighter. Cuts and bruises were splattered all across his muscular body, and he was breathing quite heavily as he let out a victorious cry.

"Looks like it's over." Bruno chuckled as the smoke began to clear, allowing Ash to see the martial arts master. "You underestimated Machamp's power, and because of that you lost the battle. Ash looked down at Snorlax, who was completely unconscious.

"Oh no…" Misty gasped as the smoke cleared. Before her she could see Snorlax lying flat on his back, while Machamp still stood tall. "How could he keep fighting after that hyper beam?"

"Pikachu." The mouse's tone was quite doleful.

The black haired trainer shook his head as he looked down at Snorlax. Bruno was right, he had underestimated Machamp's power, and because of that he got the upper hand and took down Snorlax while he was distracted by Ash's boasting.

"I can still give you the badge if you want it, Ash." Bruno said as he crossed his arms. "You've already earned it for helping me in the mines."

Ash shook his head. "No."

"Suit yourself." Bruno shrugged as he turned around, and called Machamp to follow.

"The battle's not over yet." Ash uttered.

Bruno stopped in his tracks. "What do you mean?" He turned back to the trainer, a puzzled look on his face.

"Wake up Snorlax!" Upon hearing his master's command, Snorlax's eyes shot open, and he quickly got back onto his feet, all of the fatigue he had gathered throughout the battle seemingly gone.

"What the…" Bruno and Machamp both stood there, speechless and completely bewildered by what they were seeing take place before them.

Ash looked up at the gym leader and gave a sly grin. "You're right, I did underestimate your Machamp's power." Ash took hold of the brim of his cap and turned it around. "But you underestimated my Snorlax as well!" Snorlax slammed his fist into his palm and gave a serious look towards his opponent. "While you thought you had already won, Snorlax was using rest to recover from all the damage you dealt to him."

Bruno's jaw dropped. "No way!" He felt so stupid for being so ignorant as to not actually check to see if his opponent was actually unconscious, or just resting.

Meanwhile on the bleachers, Misty and Pikachu began to jump up and down joyously upon seeing Snorlax stand back on his feet, ready to battle. "For someone so dense, he sure is good at keeping tricks up his sleeve." Misty said with a smile. "Go Ash!"

The trainer from Pallet looked over at his redheaded friend, smiling as he gave her a nod.

Bruno glared at the Snorlax and his trainer. "Machamp, finish that thing off with a focus punch." His Pokémon acknowledged the order, and drew his upper right fist back, energy beginning to flow into his hand.

"Snorlax!" Ash called out to the refreshed Pokémon. "Use giga impact!" Snorlax, completely refreshed, began charging towards the fighting type. A shield of orange streaks began surrounding him as he did so, while a purple light engulfed his body. The Pokémon dashed across the battlefield at shockingly fast speeds for a Pokémon of his weight and size, while Machamp held his position, his fist glowing brighter and brighter. Snorlax started to close in on his opponent, gathering more and more energy with each step he took.

Bruno felt a bead of sweat trickle down his cheek. "Use focus punch now!" Machamp hurled his powerful fist forward as Snorlax came within striking distance.

"Now channel the giga impact into a mega punch!" Ash shouted to his Pokémon

"What did he just say?!" Bruno was completely and utterly shocked by what Ketchum had just said. Snorlax then drew back his fist as he came within striking distance of Machamp, the streaks of orange and the glowing purple aura directing towards the gigantic Pokémon's glowing fist.

As the two fists made contact with one another, a loud_ "Bang"_ could be heard, a shockwave filling the entire gym, knocking both Bruno and Ash off of their feet. Feeling the impact of the blast, Misty held Pikachu close to her as the force pushed her down onto one of the bleacher's benches.

Ash and Bruno got back onto their feet and looked onto the battlefield to see that the two Pokémon were still fist locked with one another, neither one giving an inch. Sweat poured down their faces as their powerful punches pressed against each other, creating a brilliant light that made it hard to see who was winning the struggle. Snorlax began to snarl as he channeled all of his energy solely into overpowering his opponent. Machamp tried to match the massive Pokémon's strength, but between being fatigued and also being generally weaker than the gargantuan beast, Machamp made a worried expression as he realized he was being overpowered. His elbow began to bend just slightly, giving into Snorlax's amazing strength. The second he did, the purple fist smashed against the fighting type's skull, sending him flying backwards, slamming against the wall behind Bruno.

"I..I don't believe it." Bruno was shocked by the events that just unfolded before him. "Not once have I ever seen Machamp become over powered in a test of strength." Bruno fell to his knees, completely in disbelief. He looked over to see the redheaded girl running down from the bleachers and congratulating Ash. Bruno couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"That was a great fight Bruno." Ash praised as he recalled Snorlax. "You did great out there." The trainer whispered to his powerful Pokémon as he put him back in his Poké Ball.

Bruno stood back onto his feet, and walked over to Ash's side of the battlefield. "You've impressed me, Ash." He said as he recalled Machamp into his Poké Ball. "You should be proud of yourself." He reached into his pocket and handed the fist shaped badge to Ash. "Now, without any shadow of a doubt, you have earned the Power Badge."

Ash took the badge from his defeated opponent, nodding to show his immense amount of respect for the martial arts master. "Thank you Bruno."

"You have nothing to thank me for." Bruno smiled. "You've earned this badge."

Ash and Misty began to smile as the black haired trainer pinned the badge to the inside of his jacket, right next to the Venom Badge. "I guess its off to Gainesboro now." Ash said, looking over at his redheaded friend.

"Looks like it."

_As long as we get out of this boring mining town, I'll be happy._ She thought.

"Well you best start leaving now." Bruno spoke. "That's a three week trek. Two weeks if you don't take any detours."

Ash smiled. "Well I guess we should get going then Misty," He turned back to his friend. "unless you want to stay for a while?"

"No!" She barked, causing Ash and Bruno jump back from her exclamation. Seeing the shock she brought upon the two, she took a moment to regain her composure. "I mean…" Her voice became much gentler and sweet.. "I'd love to go to Gainesboro. I hear there's some really cool stuff there. So we should probably leave as soon as we can." Ash and Bruno were still a bit taken back by her initial response.

"Uh.. Okay Mist, whatever you say." Ash stuttered.

The two then said their goodbyes to Bruno, and made their way out of the gym. Since the two had entered the gym, nightfall had overtaken Chester Town, allowing the warm summer night breeze to blow against their skin.

"You did great, Ash." Misty looked over at her black haired friend, giving him a smile.

"You really thought so?"

"Of course! Snorlax did amazing out there!"

Ash snickered. "Ya know, back in the old days you'd tell me what I could've done better, and that if it wasn't for luck, I would've lost."

Misty rolled her eyes. "Well that was when you were a stupid little kid."

"Oh gee, thanks." He replied sarcastically.

"Don't get too happy." She said. "Just because you're a better trainer than you were four years ago, doesn't mean your not a moron."

Ash made a half smile at her joke. "Well just because you're prettier than you were four years ago doesn't mean you don't have a bad attitude."

Misty blushed. "Aw, you think I'm pretty Ash?" She asked playfully.

"Don't flatter yourself." He then felt a smack on the back of his head. "Hey!" He cried out.

"Don't even start Ash," She said plainly. "I'll do it again if I have to."

"But I was just saying that…" There was another smack. "Okay, I'll stop now."

"Yeah, that might be a good idea." She giggled under her breath as the two trainers left the mining city of Chester Town.

* * *

Well, I've got some bad news for all of you guys. Tomorrow may be my last daily update for quite some time. I have Chapters 1-16 done, buuuuut the latter of the 6 still need to go through their first round of revision, plus I'm also working on new chapters. That, and also Sunday is me and my girlfriend's 2 year anniversary so I probably will not be getting anything done on Sunday.

So, with that said, I'm going to let you guys decide. would you great readers out there rather me release these chapters as they are completed (somewhere between ever 2-3 days), or would you rather for me to take a week off from updating so I can focus on writing new chapters, and then release another ten or so chapters within the span of 3-5 days?

Inbox me, tell me in the reviews, whichever you'd prefer.

So tomorrow I'll be posting my last daily chapter, and I'll have a word for you on how I will approach future updates.

Goodnight everybody!


	11. A Little Unfriendly Competition

All right, this is a big one. Actually it's the biggest chapter I've written so far.

I guess most of you are probably going to wonder how I'll do future updates after this. Well most of the readers have asked that I take a week off from updating and instead post a big chunk of chapters across a 3-4 day period at the end of the week. This is the plan I'm going to stick with, BUT Chapter 12 and 13 may get posted before then, since they've gone through one round of revision, and just need to be gone over again.

With that out of the way, I now give you a chapter that focuses (almost entirely) on Ash and Misty.

It's a lengthy one though, so be sure you have a good chunk of free time on your hands before you read this.

Enjoy!

* * *

The journey through the Zerran planes had been a very peaceful one. The sun was shinning, the skies bright and blue, and the warm Summer air mixed with the light breeze made for wonderful traveling weather. To top it all off, there hadn't been any shenanigans or misadventures. There had been no bike gangs, no Farfetch'd trying stealing their Pokémon, and no attacks from Jessie and James. The latter of which was something the two couldn't help but take notice of.

"All I'm saying is, don't you think it's a bit weird that Team Rocket just decided to stop trying to steal Pikachu?" Misty looked over at her friend who was leaning his head back as they walked along the dirt road, soaking in all the beautiful sunlight.

"Maybe they just finally wised up and realized they're never going to catch Pikachu." He looked over to his friend resting on his shoulder. "Ain't that right buddy?"

"Pika!" Pikachu gave his trainer a big smile.

"Well that certainly would make this journey a lot easier." Misty added. "But I just hope…. Oh wow!"

The black haired trainer looked over at the redhead to see what had gotten her attention. "What is it?"

Misty's eyes lit up as she pointed towards a sign between the fork in the road ahead of them. It was a wooden sign pointing towards the two different paths. The arrow pointing to the left read "Gainesboro: 15 Miles", the one pointing to the right read "Scarlett Town: 3 Miles".

"Yeah," Ash said, not the least beat of surprise in his voice. "We already figured we'd be getting to Gainesboro by tomorrow, or did you forget?"

Misty shot a look at him. "Not that you moron," she pointed towards the sign that directed towards Scarlett Town. "_that_." Ash looked at the sign, and shook his head.

"Misty, we don't have time for detours." He turned back to his friend. "We're making such good time."

The Cerulean Gym Leader turned her head away from Ash, and stuck her nose up in the air, almost giving a snooty look to her. "Well I've been wanting to go to Scarlett Town since I was a little girl." She looked back at Ash, yet still kept her nose stuck up. "So _you_ can go to Gainesboro, but _I'm_ going to spend the day in Scarlett Town." She then began to take the path leading right.

Ash stopped in his tracks and looked at Misty with a look of bewilderment. "B..but how are we going to meet back up?"

"You have my cell phone number!" She shouted as she continued walking down the path, not bothering to look back. "Worst case, I'll just see you in November!"

Ash was completely speechless. She wouldn't _really_ leave him, would she? Of course she wouldn't, she even said herself that traveling and doing things like this is boring when there's no one else with you to share the fun with. Yet she continued walking away.

"Fine." Ash mumbled. "I'm coming!" He shouted as he darted down the path leading to Scarlett Town, Misty still not bothering to turn around and acknowledge the trainer.

XXXXXXXXXX

Scarlett Town was similar to Fluressa City, in that it was a very traditionalistic town, however Scarlett Town was much smaller, and lacked any sort of blocky office buildings that could be found in Fluressa City. On the way there, Misty had informed Ash that this was a town was world famous for its hot springs and fire dancing ceremonies. Though the idea of him and his Pokémon relaxing in a nice hot spring was quite appealing, all he could think about was falling behind, and not getting all eight of his gym badges by the end of October.

"Oh get over it you big baby." Misty rolled her eyes as the trainer from Pallet complained once again about the subject. "_One_ day of some well deserved rest and relaxation will not stop you from getting all of your badges in time."

Ash let out a sigh, seeing there was no way he could convince his female friend to skip over the town. "Fine," He grumbled. "I guess we better get a room at the Pokémon Center."

Misty sighed as well. "Why do we have to stay in one of those Pokémon Centers again?"

"Because they're free."

The redhead rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but do you _really_ want to spend another night in one of those?"

"Would you rather go camping?"

_He's so dense._

"No, Ash!" She snapped. "I'm trying to say we should get a nice hotel for once."

Ash was a bit puzzled by the idea. "Why? Hotel's cost money, and that's something we don't have much of."

Misty's eyes widened. "You mean you spent all of your prize money already?"

The trainer shot her a perplexed look. "Prize money?'

The gym leader's eyes widened even more upon hearing this. _How could he not know about the prize money he received for obtaining top four in the Lily of the Valley Conference? _"Yeah," she said, disbelief apparent in her voice. "you know, the ten thousand dollar consolation prize you received for making it to the Sinnoh Top 4?"

Ash's jaw dropped. "Ten thousand dollars?!"

The redhead rolled her eyes, completely stupefied that Ash was not aware of the large chunk of money he had in his possession. "Yes! Ten thousand dollars!"

The trainer's face began to grow pale. "B..but they didn't give me any money."

Misty slammed her palm against her forehead. "That's because the credits were transferred to your Pokédex!" She pointed down at the red device in his pocket.

"Y..you mean it's on my Pokédex?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out the red Sinnoh Pokédex.

"Yes!" Misty couldn't believe this. He had traveled across all four regions and was just now discovering this. "Think of it as a pseudo debit card."

"A debit card?"

_Is he really this stupid?_

"It's like a credit card, except it has a spending limit."

"Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" Ash was still trying to wrap his mind around this. "You never mentioned it back in the Orange Isles after the Pokémon League, or after the Silver Conference."

"I just assumed your Mom had the money transferred to her so you wouldn't do something stupid with it!" She stopped for a moment, realizing that Ash hadn't spent a dime of any of his prize money from any of his past journeys. "Give me that!" Misty snatched the red device out of Ash's hand.

Normally he would have objected to her taking his trusty device. But after this little revelation, he just assumed Misty knew more about the its features than he did, so he let the redhead fiddle with it.

"Pokédex," Misty spoke into the microphone. "Open up credit history." After her words entered the microphone, the Pokédex began to process the words that entered the microphone, and then responded accordingly.

"Credit history." the digital female voice spoke. "Five hundred dollars received for finishing in the Top 16 of the Indigo Pokémon League Conference."

_Yup._ Misty thought. _He hasn't spent a dime._

"Fifteen Thousand dollars received for obtaining Champion rank in the Orange League." Both of the trainers gasped upon hearing this. Ash was completely stunned that for five years he had been sitting on this huge sum of money, and didn't even realize it. Misty on the other hand felt a tinge of anger, thinking back to all the times they slept in some overcrowded Pokémon Center when they could have spent the night in a nice, comfy hotel. Of course she also couldn't forget all the nights they had to go to bed hungry because they couldn't buy any food.

"Twenty five hundred dollars received for obtaining Top Eight in the Silver Conference. Twenty five hundred dollars received for obtaining Top Eight in the Ever Grande Conference. Ten thousand dollars received for obtaining Champion rank in the Kanto Battle Frontier. And Ten thousand dollars received for obtaining Top Four in the Lily of the Valley Conference."

Misty glared at Ash, who was completely overjoyed for discovering the small fortune he had come across.

As the Pokédex began to speak again, Misty and Ash turned their attention back to the red device. "Total accumulated credits…" It paused as it processed the math. "Forty thousand, five hundred dollars." Misty and Ash's jaws dropped. The black haired trainer wanted to scream in joy, but at the same time he just couldn't find his voice. Misty on the other hand glared at the trainer, fire in her eyes.

"You mean to tell me that you have had all of this money, and we had to spend our entire time in Johto inside of those smelly Pokémon Centers!?" Misty's rage filled voice brought him down back to earth.

"Well, I..I didn't know." He said sheepishly.

Misty slammed the Pokédex back into Ash's gloved hand. "You are taking me to the nicest hotel in Scarlett Town right now!" She barked.

Ash couldn't do anything except nod his head timidly, hoping that Misty wouldn't hit him for being completely oblivious of the pile of money he had literally kept in his pocket for the past six years.

XXXXXXXXXX

The hotel room Ash rented out for the day with his newly discovered cash was without a doubt _the_ nicest hotel he'd ever stayed in. Two giant bedrooms with their own bathrooms, a full sized kitchen, a big screen t.v., and of course, an indoor Jacuzzi. After spending most of their time outdoors or inside of cramped Pokémon Centers, the two took it upon themselves to get into their bathing suits and take a dip inside of the hot, relaxing tub. Of course this wasn't just reserved for the two trainers. Misty had let her Starmie and Azumarill relax in the warm water as well, while Pikachu floated steadily on his back in the middle of the tub.

"Okay Misty, I have to admit it." Ash let out a relaxing sigh as he leaned against the wall of the tub. "This was a good idea."

Misty, who was sitting opposite of him, took a sip of her herbal tea that the hotel had provided them with upon renting out the room. "I still can't believe you didn't know you had all that money." As she said this Pikachu let out a sigh as he floated along the water.

"Aw, c'mon." He tried to come up with a good defense, but halfway through his statement he realized that he had forty thousand dollars, so why _should _he care if it took him this long to find out about it?

There was a brief moment of silence in the bubbling tub as Misty finished her tea, while Ash leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

The redhead looked up at him. "Don't fall asleep." She said, causing him to open his eyes back up. "They're having a fire dancing show tonight that I want to take you to."

Ash shook his head at the very thought of stepping out of the comfortable Jacuzzi. "You can go on ahead, I'll just stay in here and relax."

Misty made a scowl. She was not about to have a reenactment of when they first arrived in Crestpeak City. However, she knew that there was one thing this show would have that he could never turn down. "Ash." She said in a sweet voice, causing the black haired trainer to raise an eyebrow. "They have an all you can eat buffet."

His eyes widened. "Really?"

She nodded.

"Well…" Ash still seemed hesitant when the idea of leaving the warm tub crossed his mind. "This tub is really comfy."

"Oh good grief Ash, it's in six hours." His friend snapped. "There's no need to rush."

Upon hearing this, Ash let out a smile, knowing that he still had _six more hours_ to bask in the pools comfort. "Alright," he said. "That sounds good to me."

Misty rolled her eyes as she got out of the tub, and went into her bedroom to dry off and change. The black haired trainer looked over at her as the she walked away in her light blue bikini, waiting for her to go into her bedroom and close the door behind her, before finally letting out a deep sigh of relief.

"Jeez," Ash looked over at his floating yellow friend. "Did you see what Misty was wearing, Pikachu?"

The mouse let out a half hearted "Pika." as he floated across the water.

The whole time she was in the Jacuzzi with him, Ash felt like he was about to have a hormonal burst. He wasn't even ashamed by having these thoughts anymore. For years he had always tried viewing Misty as nothing more than a friend, and would occasionally jokingly chastise her looks to help hide these feelings of attraction towards her. However after seeing her in a bikini for the first time in four years, allowing him to se how much she had "grown" since then. There was no way he could deny it anymore. Misty was _hot_.

He had always secretly thought of her as pretty before. Even when they were kids, he'd take mental note about how good she looked. However, he'd never truly felt a strong physical attraction to her until just now. So did this mean that he _liked_ her? He wasn't really sure. He still viewed her as his best friend, but at the same time he knew she was undeniably beautiful.

"What do you think I should do, Pikachu?" He asked his loyal Pokémon, assuming that the mouse already knew what he was talking about.

"Pikachu." The Pokémon's response was just as half hearted as the last.

"Yeah," The black haired trainer sighed, acting like he understood what the mouse said to him. "Why ruin a good thing?" He paused for a moment, unsure if that was the answer he wanted to give. "Right?" After saying this, Ash looked over at Starmie and Azumarill, forgetting they were even in the tub with him. However they didn't seem to be paying any mind to him. At least Azumarill wasn't. Starmie was impossible to tell. He let out another sigh, realizing that since Misty wasn't in the tub anymore, he didn't have anymore interest in staying in staying in there either. "Might as well go dry off I guess." He said as he stepped out of the hot Jacuzzi.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash and Misty took a seat in the amphitheater, Pikachu laying in Misty's lap. Night had long since fallen on the quiet little town, but the air remained warm and only slightly humid. Wooden torches aligned the stage, while a dancer dressed in what looked to be geisha attire, pranced around the stage.

"Where's the fire dancing?" Ash whispered as he leaned towards the gym leader.

"This is just the opening act." She explained as she began to pet Pikachu. "The name of it is The Lone Lilly." She paused. "It's a ballet."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "The Lone Lilly?"

The redhead wasn't the least bit surprised that he hadn't heard of the story. Misty had been dancing since the day she started walking. Her mother was the founder of the Cerulean City Water Ballet, a ballet that would later become her sister's Sensational Sisters Water Ballet. So dancing was in her blood, and as such, she had taken a strong interest in many forms of dancing. Ballet, ballroom, salsa, interpretive, and many others. During that time, she had discovered Scarlett Town's famous ballets, and The Lone Lilly was one of them.

"The Lone Lilly is the story of a girl named Lily, who's mother died at birth, and she never knew her father." The gym leader started. "So she was raised by crime lords and forced to work for their "escort" service."

"That's depressing." The trainer added as he watched the dancer on the stage begin spinning gracefully on the toes of her right foot.

"It gets worse." Ash looked over at his friend, curious to hear how much more depressing the story could get. "She ended up falling in love with a man who owed the crime lords money." As she said this, a male dancer entered the stage. "Then one day the crime lords arranged for him to be killed, and inadvertently killed both him and Lily."

Ash looked over at the dancers who began to hold hands as they engaged in an elegant waltz. "That's sad." He said plainly.

"Well it's not all bad." Misty began to smile. "In the end the two lovers see each other on the other side, where they can be with each other for all eternity."

"That's a little less depressing, I guess."

Misty let out a sigh. "Yeah, most ballets are like that." As she said this, a third dancer entered the stage. A man wearing a black robe.

"Is that the crime lord?" The trainer asked as he pointed towards the new dancer.

Misty shook her head. "No, that's the assassin he sent to kill Lily's lover."

"Eh, close enough." As he said this, the dancers playing the role of Lily and her lover fell to the ground as the third dancer exited the stage. Once he was gone, Lily and her lover stood back up, and began dancing once again.

"And that's the story." Misty said as the two dancers began to twirl towards the curtains. "Now the real show can start!"

Ash couldn't help but smile at Misty's enthusiasm. She had been going on all day about how she had wanted to see this show since she was a little girl, especially since it was world renowned as one of the best fire dancing shows in the world.

The lights around the amphitheater began to dim, Pikachu's ears perked up upon seeing this. Misty let out a squeal as the show's start drew near. Loud, traditional percussion based music began to boom over the speakers surrounding the amphitheater. As the deep drums began to pick up, the curtain started to raise. Behind the curtains were a team of four Machokes drumming against giant animal skin drums with burning drumsticks.

"That's cool." Ash was quite impressed by their ability to manage to twirl the giant drumsticks, not get burnt, and keep in beat with each other. "That must have taken a lot of practice." Then from behind the Machoke, emerged four bare chested men, spinning and twirling staves with fire burning on each tip. As they did this, the dancers began spitting fire, creating beautiful arcs of flame as they did so.

Ash felt a soft hand place itself over his. He looked down to see that Misty was resting her hand atop of his, though she seemed completely unaware of this, as she was far too distracted by the show going on before her. Ash could have pulled his hand out from under hers, but he found himself perfectly content with having the girl he was ogling earlier holding his hand.

Ash let out a sigh of happiness, deciding to take Misty's hand into his own. As their fingers locked, the black haired trainer felt a weird feeling in his stomach. It was a fusion of being both nervous and joyous at the same time. He didn't know what this feeling was, but he liked it.

XXXXXXXXXX

The two teens walked along the grassy fields of Scarlett Town. At this point they both had taken their shoes off, instead carrying them in hand, deciding that walking barefoot would be much more comfortable. Misty especially loved the feeling of being barefoot. She'd spent most of her life swimming inside of the Cerulean City Gym, so shoes were something she didn't really wear that much until she started traveling. However, she never lost her love for the feeling of her bare feet pressing against soft grass, or the feeling of water rushing between her toes.

"Sorry the buffet was closed." Misty apologized.

"What are you sorry for?" Ash's voice seemed very enthusiastic. "That show was awesome!"

The redhead smiled. "See Ash, it's nice to culture yourself every now and then, isn't it?"

He turned to his friend, and let out a grin . "Yeah, thanks Misty."

"Pika pikachu!" The yellow mouse tugged on Ash's leg, pointing across the field. Both of the trainers looked off in the direction Pikachu was pointing to see a lone hot spring at the base of a rocky cliff.

"Oh that looks nice!" Misty exclaimed as she began to dash towards the spring.

"Uh, Mist, we don't have our bathing suits!" Ash yelled, trying to catch up to her.

"We're not going swimming, silly." She giggled. "It'll just be a nice place to relax!"

Ash cracked a half smile as he caught up to her and Pikachu. Once the three arrived at the hot spring, Misty threw her shoes to the side, and dipped her feet into the hot water. She let out a sigh as she felt a sense of comfort cover her entire body as her feet were engulfed by the warm, watery blanket.

"Take a seat, Ash." She patted on the ground directly next to her. The black haired trainer took a seat a little farther away from where she patted, just to be sure he didn't sit closer than she felt comfortable with. This caused him to be caught off guard when the redhead slid up next to him after he took a seat, allowing their hips to touch. This caused a cold feeling to shoot up Ash's spine.

"I had a great time, Ash." Her voice was soft.

"I did too!" The trainer, despite being nervous, still carried enthusiasm in his voice. "Remember that part where that Charizard came out at the end of the show?"

Misty nodded. "Somehow I knew you'd like that part." She said rolling her eyes, though her tone wasn't even the least bit snarky.

"Well _excuse _me for being so predictable." His sarcasm was obvious.

"I bet you'd even enjoy one of my water ballets if there was a Feraligator in it." She giggled.

"Hey!" Ash began to defend himself. "If you remember, I was really excited to see you in that water ballet after we got back from the Cinnabar Islands."

"Well let's not forget you also got to blow away Team Rocket at the end of the third act."

"Still, it counts." Ash crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue at the girl. Misty stuck her tongue out as well.

"You're such a kid." She giggled.

He felt a tinge hit his side when she said this. "Uh, could you please not say that?"

The gym leader gave him a puzzled look. "Why?"

Ash shrugged as he kicked his toes in the water. "I don't know, something about it just seems… annoying?"

Misty rolled her eyes once more. "Whatever, Ash." She chuckled.

The trainer from Pallet looked down at Pikachu, who was floating on his back in the spring, much like he was in the Jacuzzi earlier that day. Ash began to think back to the "conversation" him and his yellow friend had while in the hot tub. Should he bring up? Or should he just let it go? He couldn't decide. He wanted to tell her about these weird feeling he had for her, but then he thought back to his own words.

_Why mess up a good thing?_

However after putting more thought into it, Ash couldn't help but feel that that was a very pessimistic way of looking at the situation. Would his and Misty's friendship _really_ be ruined if he told her that he had these feelings about her that he just couldn't describe?

He wasn't sure.

"Misty?" he said to her, breaking the silence.

"Yes?"

"I've been thinking a lot about what we talked about back in Crestpeak City."

"We talked about a lot of things, which one?"

Ash let out a sigh, trying to gather the gall to say what he was going to say. "I've been thinking about what it was I wanted to say to you when we quit traveling together."

Misty's face began to light up. "Really?" Her tone was quite soft.

"Yeah, and uh… I just wanted to say that…" He paused and took a deep breath. If he was going to say it, he needed to say it. "I still don't know what it is I wanted to say to you." He sighed.

_I can't believe I just blew it._

He was telling the truth though, even after two months of contemplating he still didn't know how to put into words the things he wanted to say to her on that fateful day at the crossroads. However there were still a lot of things he _wanted_ to tell her that he knew he could put into words, but it looked like that'd have to wait for another day.

Misty gave a half smile. "It's okay Ash, I still don't know what I wanted to say to you either." Her smile reassured the trainer, allowing him to crack a grin. "But I can tell you right now that you're a great friend, Ash."

"And you're a great friend too, Misty." Both of the teens then turned towards the spring, letting the heat that radiated from it warm their bodies.

"Oh," Misty said in a much light hearted tone, easing the tension of the mood. "I almost forgot to tell you."

"Forgot to tell me what?" He turned to the gym leader. Before he could say anything else, he felt a hand press against his back and push him forward, directly into the hot spring. As he collided with the water, he made a big splash, sending water everywhere. Meanwhile, Misty began to laugh uncontrollably at the prank she just played on her friend. "Hey what was that for!?"

Misty looked down at him, still giggling. "Because I thought it'd be funny." She said using the exact same words from when she smashed blueberry ice cream in his face.

"Oh haha, very funny." Ash grumbled. "Help me out, will ya?" He reached out to her.

Misty rolled her eyes, still giggling. "Sure thing Ash." As she connected her hand with her friend's, she felt him pull his arm back, pulling her into the pool of hot water as well. She let out a scream as she splashed into the water. Once she resurfaced, her wet bangs drooped over her eyes. "What was that for!?" She screeched in a much more menacing tone than the one Ash gave when he was pushed in.

"Because I thought it'd be funny." He replied, poking fun of the redhead.

"Why you…" She then started splashing water into his face. Ash quickly returned the favor by splashing water at her. Initially this was done out of anger, but as the splashing continued, it started to become more playful. Their growls and screams at one another began to turn into chuckling and laughter. Before they knew it, they were acting like two kids playing in a pool.

"I'm gonna get you for that!" Misty laughed as she splashed more water at her black haired friend.

"I don't think so!" He chuckled as he began to swim away from her splash radius.

"Yeah, try to win in a swimming race with the Cerulean City Gym Leader." Misty quickly caught up to him and put him into a headlock with one arm, and used her free hand to playfully rub her knuckles over his scalp.

"Hey, hey stop that!" He laughed.

"That's what you get for pulling me in!" The redhead giggled. After a moment she finally let go of the trainer and the two began to just lay in the water and laugh. Their cloths were soaked, they'd be freezing cold the second they got out of the water, and the hotel manager would probably throw a fit when he saw them tracking in water through the building, but they didn't care. They were having too much fun to care.

"Well if it isn't the two love birds." A somewhat familiar female voice spoke. Ash and Misty turned to the girl standing over them. Misty instantly recognized the brown haired girl, and the fire in her eyes from Chester Town were relit.

"What are _you_ doing here?" The gym leader growled.

Serenity cracked a crooked smile. "I'm going back to Chester Town. I've already gotten my badge from Gainesboro."

"Ha," Misty laughed. "If you had stayed and helped those miners you might have your Power Badge right now!"

Serenity rolled her eyes. "Pfft. I can just hitch a ride on Fearow if I'm _really_ in a hurry." She then looked over at Ash. "I also think I make better time without an annoying redhead nagging me the whole time." She then gave him a wink. This sent Misty over the edge.

"That's it!" She screamed as she pulled herself out of the spring. "I'm challenging you to a battle!"

Serenity rolled her eyes. "Oooo, the girlfriend of someone from the Sinnoh Top Four is challenging me to a match. I'm _so_ scared."

Ash began to blush; Misty began to fume.

"First, I'm not his girlfriend! Second, I'm Misty Waterflower, the Cerulean City Gym Leader!"

Serenity gave her a blank stare as she crossed her arms. "Oh no, a gym leader. It's not like I haven't already beaten sixteen of them already."

"Look you little witch! Are you going to accept my challenge or not!?" Misty began reaching into her backpack for a Poké Ball, while Ash got out of the spring, Pikachu right behind him.

The brunet gave her a scowl. "Alright, if you want to get beaten so badly, be my guest." She reached for a Poké Ball on her belt and tossed it onto grass where her and Misty would have their battle. "Go Blastoise!" As the sphere made contact with the grass, the giant turtle Pokémon was released.

"A water Pokémon?" Misty smirked. "I'll show you a real water Pokémon! She lifted up a Poké Ball and gave it a kiss before getting ready to toss it. "Go Gyarado-" Before she could toss the red and white orb, one from her backpack opened up, releasing Psyduck onto the battlefield.

"Psy?"

Misty's face began to turn red with rage. She couldn't believe that of all the times the yellow duck could have decided to pop out, it had to be _right now_. "Get back in your Poké Ball, Psyduck!" She screamed as she reached into her backpack to grab his respective Poké Ball.

"Not so fast!" Serenity shouted. "That wouldn't fly in one of your gym battles, so I'm not going to let it fly here either!"

The redhead glared at her opponent. "Says who?"

The brunet kept her crooked smile. "If you want to battle me, you'll stick with that Psyduck."

Misty felt a surge of rage go through her, but she wasn't going to let Psyduck making an unwanted appearance stop her from showing this girl a thing or two about Pokémon battles. So she grabbed Psyduck by the head, and held him merely inches from her face.

"Listen Psyduck!" She snarled. "You came out here, so you're going to battle! You see that Blastoise?" She turned his head towards the giant turtle Pokémon, then back to her. "You're going to beat that thing! Got it?"

Psyduck's blank expression began to show a tint of worry. "Psyduck?"

"Now go get him!" The gym leader tossed him onto the battlefield, the duck bouncing on his butt as he landed in front of the massive water Pokémon. The yellow duck slowly looked up at the snarling beast, and quickly tried to make a retreat to his redheaded master, screaming the entire way back.

Misty and Ash let out a sigh of disappointment as the little duck came running back to his master, jumping in her arms, hoping to find safety there.

"I shouldn't be surprised." Misty groaned as she held Psyduck.

"What a joke." Serenity shook her head. "You're a sad excuse for a gym leader."

As these words sank into Psyduck, he felt a sense of anger surge through him. He had been made fun of before, he had been told that he was worthless, useless, and not wanted, but he didn't mind that. However, to hear his own master chastised like that? His fearful expression began to morph into one of rage.

"Psyduck!" He yelled, hopping out of Misty's arms, facing the massive Blastoise. Misty, Ash, and Pikachu were all taken back by the otherwise clueless Pokémon's sudden jolt of anger.

"Oh wow." Ash looked on in wonderment. "He's actually going to fight."

Misty felt a rush of happiness as she saw Psyduck stomp towards the Blastoise with not even the slightest hint of fear. "You've got this Psyduck!" Misty cheered. The duck turned around and gave her an attempt at a thumbs up with his opposable fin.

"Isn't that cute?" Serenity chuckled. "He thinks he stands half a chance."

Misty wanted to make a comeback, but she was right. Psyduck may have had the fighting spirit, but it was pretty obvious that he stood little chance against the powerful Pokémon. It was too late to back down now though.

"Psyduck!" She cried out. "Use body slam on that Blastoise!" Psyduck gave a nod and then began waddling towards the turtle. Serenity just stood there, not ordering her Blastoise to even move. Once Psyduck came within range of the water type, he jumped up into the air and slammed all of its weight onto Blastoise. As the plump, yellow duck smacked against the giant turtle, the duck bounced back and fell on his back. Blastoise looked down at Psyduck, and rubbed the spot on his belly that the psychic and water type rammed into. The water type then turned to his brunet master, waiting for her command.

"J..just kick him or something. I don't really care." Her disinterest was almost comedic. Following its master's command. Blastoise gave a half hearted kick to Psyduck, hitting him in the gut with his massive foot. Psyduck went flying back upon impact, and rolled in front of Misty and Ash.

"Psy-ai-ai-ai-ai-duck!" he cried out as he rolled across the ground. Misty looked down at the defeated Pokémon and let out a sigh.

"Wow." Serenity looked like she almost felt bad for beating the Psyduck so badly. "This was almost sad."

The redhead gloomily raised Psyduck's Poké Ball. "Psyduck, retu-"

"Psy!" The Pokémon raised his fin in the air, signifying his willingness to continue fighting.

"What?" Ash was speechless, he'd never seen Psyduck wish to continue fighting after taking a beating like that.

Misty was just as surprised. "Uh, Psyduck are you sure you want to continue fighting?"

The yellow duck lifted itself up and gave her a nod. "Psy!"

Serenity and Blastoise were both dumbstruck by the little Pokémon's determination. "Wow, I've got to give him credit. He's tenacious, that's for sure."

Misty contemplated as to rather or not she should continue the fight. Psyduck looked like that hit did a number on him, but at the same time he seemed adamant about wanting to continue. "Uh… go for a scratch, Psyduck." She was reluctant in giving her order. Psyduck began rushing towards Blastoise, the tips of his fins shining as the moonlight glistened on them.

Psyduck swiped at the same exact spot he tried to body slam earlier. Just like before though, the attack was in vain. As his sharp fin grazed against Blastoise's thick shell, Psyduck ended up hurting his own fin in doing so.

Serenity sighed. "Blastoise, please just knock it out." Heeding its master's orders, the Pokémon swung a low punch at the small Pokémon, smashing it across the head, sending it flying back to Misty.

"Oh no!" Ash and Misty cried out, worried about the yellow duck's well being. The Pokémon bounced across the grassy field, though he wasn't crying out his name. Ash and Misty ran over to the presumably unconscious Pokémon. Misty kneeled down next to her wounded friend and started cradling his head in her arms.

"Are you okay Psyduck?" Psyduck's eyes remained closed, completely unresponsive. "Psyduck, please wake up!" After hearing this, the yellow Pokémon's eyes shot open. But instead of being the clueless, beady eyes that he normally had, they glowed a luminescent blue. Misty jumped back as Psyduck got back onto his feet. "He's got a headache!"

Serenity's jaw dropped. "How is that thing still able to fight?" She began to growl in frustration. "Blastoise! Just finish it with a hydro pump!" Blastoise's shoulder cannons began to emerge from his shell, and aimed directly at the glowing eyed Psyduck.

"Psyduck! Use disable!" As Blastoise prepared to fire his hydro pump, he felt a sudden psychic force overtake his entire body. It tried to fire the cannons, but his efforts proved to be futile. Serenity was surprised by the Psyduck's sudden ability to fight back.

"Alright," She grumbled. "use rapid spin!" Blastoise retracted into his shell and began spinning towards Psyduck.

"Psyduck! Stop it with Psychic!" Misty shouted to the yellow duck. Psyduck placed both of his fins on his temples, and focused on the rapidly approaching Pokémon. As Psyduck's psychic powers shrouded the spinning Blastoise, the giant water type's approach began to slow, but not halt. Psyduck continued using his psychic powers to the best of his abilities, trying to stop the spinning turtle Pokémon. However, it proved to not be enough as the shell finally collided with Psyduck, and sent him flying.

"Finally." Serenity sighed.

"Oh no, Psyduck!" Misty cried out as she ran towards the Pokémon that was lying flat on its back for the third time in the battle. This time though, Psyduck was not unconscious, but instead holding his head as he continued to kick and scream.

"Psy-ai-ai-ai-ai-ai!" He cried out as he began to spasm. Misty ran to his side and tried to calm him, Ash right behind her.

"Psyduck, what's wrong?"

"ai-ai-ai-ai-ai-ai!"

Ash looked on in confusion. "I've never seen him act like this before."

"Me neither." Misty added, worry quite apparent in her voice.

Then something neither one of them expected happened.

A light began engulfing the plump, yellow Pokémon as he continued to spasm. The two teens jumped back as the light grew brighter and brighter. Both of them looked on in wonderment, while Serenity looked on in disbelief.

"I think he's… evolving." Misty was completely awestruck.

"-ai-ai-ai-ai-ai-ai-ai-aiiiiiiiiii!" The duck began to morph shape, taking a much leaner form as he pulled himself back onto his feet. The light then began to vanish, revealing in Psyduck's place, a lean, blue Pokémon with a red stone in its forehead. "Golduck!"

Misty's eyes lit up at the sight. "You did it!" She cried, running up to the Pokémon and giving him a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you!" A tear streamed down her cheek as she held him close to her. "I always knew you could do it!"

Ash and Pikachu looked on from a distance, smiling at the event taking place before them. "He did it Pikachu!"

"Pika pi!"

"I can't believe this…" Serenity groaned.

Misty let go of her embrace with Golduck, and gave him a nod. "You've got this Golduck!" The blue duck gave her a nod, then turned back to his opponent, who was just as bewildered by this as Serenity was.

"Blastoise!" She snapped. "Take that thing down with flash cannon!" Blastoise acknowledged the command as it exposed its cannons once more, aiming them at the newly evolved Pokémon. Before he could fire though, Blastoise felt itself being lifted into the air by Golduck's psychic powers.

"Blas?"

"Good job Golduck!" Misty shouted. "Use telekinesis!" Golduck began using his hand to control where Blastoise's body was flung, like a puppet master with invisible strings. Blastoise's body slammed against the ground again and again, grunting each time it hit the grassy plane.

"Blastoise! You've got to get out of there!" Serenity shouted. However, her pleas were futile. There was nothing Blastoise could do to break out of the powerful psychic type's control.

"Now finish this off Golduck!" Golduck turned towards the hot spring they were battling next to, and directed his hand towards the spring, flinging Blastoise into the water, creating a giant splash upon impact. After landing in the water, the Blastoise did not immediately reemerge. "You did it Golduck!" Misty cried as she started running towards her newly evolved Pokémon, Ash and Pikachu followed closely behind her.

"Good job Golduck!" Ash congratulated. Golduck looked over at the two trainers, blushing slightly at their praises. Misty wrapped her arms around her powerful Pokémon, so proud of him for finally evolving. It may have taken six years and three hard hits from a Blastoise to get him there, but it was more than worth it. To top it all off she was able to beat Serenity.

"Blas!"

Misty shot up, and looked back towards the spring to see that the giant turtle Pokémon had reemerged, cannons already exposed. They began to charge and aimed directed towards the Golduck, anger clearly drawn on its face. As the cannons charged, energy began to circulate around them.

"I don't believe it!" Ash cried out. "She taught it hyper beam!" The trainer from Pallet quickly grabbed Misty by the arm, and pulled her away from Golduck, knowing that Blastoise was aiming directly at him.

A worried look overtook Misty's face as her friend dragged her out of harms way. "Golduck! Look out!" As she said this, the massive water type fired both cannons, sending a powerful beam directly towards Golduck, engulfing him upon impact. "No!" the gym leader cried out as Golduck vanished from sight. She knew there was no way he could have withstood a hit like that.

"Haha!" Serenity cackled. "Nice try, but my Blastoise is unstoppable!"

Misty glared at her opponent as the smoke began to clear. Once the dust settled though, everyone was surprised by what they saw. A green aura surrounded the still standing Golduck, and it looked like it hadn't even sustained the slightest bit of damage from the blast.

"He used protect?!" Serenity's jaw dropped as her opponent pulled yet another trick out of his sleeve.

Misty was surprised as well, but pleasantly so. "Good job Golduck!" Now finish that Blastoise off with a point blank Psybeam!" She had taken a note from watching Ash's gym battle with Koga. Golduck leapt into the air, holding his temples as the red gem on his forehead began to glow.

Blastoise was completely unable to react due to the energy it had drained by using hyper beam. It looked up at the psychic and water type as it closed in closer and closer to him. Then just as Golduck was right in front of the giant turtle's face, it fired a psychic beam from its forehead, knocking the massive Pokémon right off of his feet, creating another huge splash as his giant body smashed against the water.

"Blastoise!" Serenity cried out as she ran to see if her Pokémon was okay. As soon as she got a close look at him, she knew there was no way he could continue to battle. "It's okay." She sighed, pulling out his respective Poké Ball. "Neither one of us could have seen that coming." Once she returned Blastoise, she glared over at Misty. Misty glared back. "This isn't over! We'll have a rematch one day!" She snarled, pointing at the gym leader.

"I look forward to it!" The redhead shouted back. After hearing her response, Serenity began to walk away, presumably to the nearest Pokémon Center.

Golduck leapt away from the spring, and landed next to Misty. "Golduck!' He looked up at his trainer adoringly.

Misty had a huge smile spread from ear to ear. "You did so amazing Golduck!" She squealed as she gave him another hug. "I'm so proud of you!"

Ash walked up behind Golduck and placed a hand on the blue duck's shoulder. "That was a great battle, Golduck." The blue Pokémon gave a smile to both of the teens, followed by another attempt at a thumbs up.

XXXXXXXXXX

As the two entered their hotel room, Misty elegantly spun around, holding her Golduck's Poké Ball up in the air. She had been doing this ever since the battle, but Ash wasn't going to be the one to ruin her fun. Besides that, he found it kind of cute to see her dancing around like this.

Oh, I'm so happy!" The redhead squeaked.

The black haired trainer walked past her and stood at the foot of the bed. "I can tell." he chuckled.

"Pikachu!" the little mouse added, jumping down from Ash's shoulder, and scurrying to the Jacuzzi.

Misty giggled as she watched the Pokémon jump into the warm tub. "I feel like I'm on top of the world!" She squealed as she spun around to lay on the bed. However, she didn't realize Ash was standing behind her, and inadvertently pushed him onto the bed when she bumped into him, in turn landing on top of him when she fell onto the bed.

The two were completely dumbfounded by the situation. Ash looked into her aqua green eyes, she looked into his deep brown eyes. While their brains were still processing what exactly happened, the two remained unmoving, locked in eye contact with one another, and their cheeks glowing crimson red. The second the two teens became truly aware of the position they were in, both of them scurried away from each other, blushing profusely.

"Um… uh…" Ash tried to find the words he was looking for. "I'm uh…" He felt a finger press against his lips, silencing him. The finger then pulled away.

"It's okay Ash," The redhead giggled, still blushing. "It was my fault."

"Uh.. It's..it's fine." Ash felt his cheeks warm as they got even redder. However, after looking at Misty's reassuring smile, he couldn't help but feel a since of comfort overtake his entire body. Ash's complexion began to return to normal as he returned the warm smile to his redheaded friend.

* * *

Well, that's all for now folks. I hope that you have enjoyed the story up to this point, and I'll have all sorts of goodies coming to you on Friday. Though if by some chance I happen to get the next ten chapters completed before then, then I'll post them early.

Something else I'd like to address is that if by some chance something comes up and delays updates, then I'll post an update chapter telling you that there will be a delay. Hopefully this won't happen, but I just hate it when fics go un-updated a week or two past when the author said they'd update them, and you don't know if they just decided to call it quits, or they're just taking forever to write the chapters, or what.

With all that said, hopefully by Friday you'll have all sorts of goodies to read.

Goodbye for now, and if you have any questions, suggestions, criticisms, or what have you, just send them to me in a message (or a review) and I'll get back to you as soon as I can, since I'll be logging onto , I just won't be updating.


	12. Fright Night

All right guys, here is a little trick-or-treat gift for you. Yesterday I was looking through this chapter and found that it was so unintentionally fitting for Halloween, that I just couldn't pass up on posting it today.

As such though, I have something I have to attend to in about an hour, so I had to sorta rush through the second round of revision. So I'm sorry if there are any errors. If there are, I'll fix them as soon as possible.

As for the rest of the chapters, expect for the next two to be posted on Friday, though it may be a little late, I'm guessing around 6-7 P.M.

Well, enjoy!

* * *

"Hello Gainesboro!" Misty screamed at the top of her lungs, throwing her arms into the air as she did so. Ash looked over at her and chuckled at her enthusiasm. The city itself was a massive expansion of buildings and skyscrapers, much like Crestpeak City. However, while Crestpeak City sported the more unique structures, Gainesboro had the much more standard, blocky skyscrapers and office buildings. There was one structure that stuck out to the two teens though, it was Gainesboro's world famous "Metropa-Mall". The building itself stood at least thirty stories tall, but its most noticeable features were the arches that spiraled around the outside of the building. Ash couldn't tell for sure, but the arches almost looked like…

"Rollercoaster tracks?" The trainer squinted his eyes to see if that was indeed what they were, as it was hard to tell with daylight vanishing as the sun set behind him.

"Sure is." Misty answered. "There's a rollercoaster inside of the mall."

Ash's eyes lit up as though he was a little kid on Christmas morning. "You mean there's a rollercoaster _inside_ of the mall?!"

The gym leader nodded.

Ash knew that he had to get his next gym badge, but there was no way he could pass up the chance to ride on a rollercoaster that went _inside _of a mall. "We've got to go check it out!" He exclaimed, an excited look shinning on his face.

Misty seemed a bit hesitant to respond to that. She looked down at her red tennis shoes and scratched the back of her head. "Well don't you have to get your next gym badge?"

A puzzled look crossed the trainer's face. Back in Fluressa City she was practically dying to go shopping before going to Koga's gym. He found her change in attitude slightly odd. "That didn't stop you from talking me into going to Scarlett Town with you."

Misty bit down on her lip, tying to come up with a response. "T..that's why we shouldn't waste our time in a stupid mall!" She tripped on her words. "We wasted a whole day in Scarlett Town, so we should go get that gym badge now before we fall behind schedule."

Ash narrowed his eyes. "What's going on?" He leaned towards Misty, trying to figure out what she was hiding. "I thought you loved going shopping?"

"I do love shopping!" She raised her voice. "I just don't feel like going shopping _right _now." She was still hiding something.

"Uh huh?" It wasn't hard to tell that Ash didn't believe her. "I bet I know what it is…."

Misty rolled her eyes, expecting him to give some half thought-out answer. "And what would that be, Ash?"

"You're afraid of rollercoasters!" He pointed an accusatory finger at the wide eyed redhead.

_Of course when I think he's too dense to figure me out, is when he finally gets it right!_

"N..no I'm not!" Her voice shook. She wasn't going to allow the trainer to know anymore of her phobias. Carrots, peppers and bugs were far more than she wanted him to know.

A mischievous, crooked smile crossed Ash's face. "You know what," He said impishly. "I _know_ you're afraid of rollercoasters."

"You can't prove that!" She snapped.

_Oh no, why did I say that?_

XXXXXXXXXX

"Why am I doing this?! Why am I doing this?! Why am I doing this?!" The redhead screamed as the safety bars of the rollercoaster's front car lowered over her and Ash. She had been talking a big game the whole time they were in line, but now that she was onboard this Gyarados shaped rollercoaster, not only was she terrified by the rollercoaster, but her old fear of Gyarados' began to resurface. "Why did I let you talk me into this?! I want to be in the daycare center with Pikachu!"

Ash began to laugh. "What's wrong Misty? I've seen you ride carnival rides before?"

Misty shook her head frantically. "Nice little rides like merry-go-rounds and spinning swings are fine, but the second it involves high-speed rollercoasters, it freaks me out!" She confessed. "There! I admit I'm afraid of rollercoasters! Now get me of this…" Before she could finish her plea to get off, the operator hit the green button, launching the Gyarados rollercoaster car down the track at blinding speed. "Ahhhhh!"

As the high-speed ride shot through a tunnel at near deathly speeds, the redhead felt a lurch in her stomach. Once the car exited the narrow tunnel, she found herself three hundred feet in the air as the rollercoaster began to spiral around the outside of the mall, causing her face grow a whiter shade of pale.

Ash had taken notice of this and began to feel that maybe this little idea of his wasn't the exactly a wise one. "Misty!" He shouted over the wind. The gym leader slowly turned her head towards him, revealing her pale complexion. Misty wanted to shoot a look at him, more than that she really wanted to hit him, but it took all of her willpower just to keep herself from puking… And that power was diminishing quickly.

Her face began to turn a slight shade of green as the rollercoaster made a hard left turn, then a little greener when the ride jerked downward, and when the ride finally reentered the mall, it wasn't a matter of _if_ she was going to puke, it was a matter of _when_. Fortunately for her when the ride came to a stop, the safety bars raised quickly, allowing for her to run to the nearest trashcan.

Ash was quick to follow her, knowing what was about to happen. The second he saw the redhead throw the lid off of one a nearby black trashcan, he ran to her side, grabbing her long red hair and pulling it behind her head as she bet over the bin.

"Bgleeeh!"

The black haired trainer looked off in the other direction as her whole body shook with each hurl. Despite how unpleasant it was, he still kept hold of her hair with one hand, while gently patting her on the back with his other. "Uh.. Just let it all out." Ash tried to sound comforting, but it was hard to be soothing when you were holding someone's hair back while they were vomiting.

After a while, it seemed like she had finally stopped upchucking everything she had eaten that day. "Are you feeling better now, Misty?" He decided to turn back to the his redheaded friend, still holding her hair just incase. She began to pull herself up, but stopped midway through. "Misty?'

"Bgleeh!"

"Oh, that's nice." Ash turned his head away once more as she spat up whatever was left in her stomach. After a few more dry heaves, she was finally able to lift herself back up. Ash released her hair, but continued watching her closely. She turned to him, her eyes darkened and her skin still a little pale. "Uh.. Are you feeling better?" After he asked this, the trainer from Pallet felt a sharp pain in his left cheek as the fiery Cerulean Gym Leader smacked him across the face. He would have probably made a vocal retort for her doing that, but he knew deep down that he deserved it.

"If you ever make me get on one of those things again, I'll kill you, Ash Ketchum!" She screamed, fury filling her voice.

Ash began to speak, but stopped to make sure Misty didn't have anything else she wanted to add to that. After seeing she didn't, he finally spoke up. "I'm sorry Misty, I deserved that."

"You better believe you did!" He braced himself for another slap, only to be slightly relieved when he found out she wasn't going to hit him again.

"So," He seemed a bit hesitant to speak. "do you think we should head over to the gym?"

The redhead nodded, anger still fuming in her eyes. "Yeah, that might be a good idea." She didn't even try to hide her resentment towards him.

XXXXXXXXXX

The tension between the two teens as they made their way to the Gainesboro Gym was so thick, it could be cut with a dull knife. Ash had done many things that left Misty miffed at him. He had awaken her up by holding a Weedle up to her face, he'd made her come running out of the ocean screaming by just saying _"Is that a Gyarados over there?"_, among countless other pranks. Never before though, had he ever made her throw up.

"So," He finally spoke up. "I just wanted to say I'm sor-"

"Save it Ash." She snapped. "Say that to me when I get the taste of puke out of my mouth, and _maybe_ I'll forgive you."

"Oh c'mon Mist," He pleaded. "I'm really sorry!" The redhead paid no mind to his apologies.

Pikachu, seeing that Misty was clearly upset, decided to jump over from Ash's shoulder and onto Misty's. He started licking her on the cheek, hoping to maker the gym leader feel better. "Not now, Pikachu." She growled, causing both Ash and the yellow mouse to be taken back by her even snapping at the cute, electric rodent. Pikachu's ears lowered as he trudged back to Ash, his eyes a little watery.

"Pika." He moped.

Ash looked down at his sad, little friend, who was scurrying up his leg. "It's alright Pikachu." He said. "She just needs some time to herself."

Misty continued to pay no mind to the two, stomping with each step she took. It was like she was going out of her way just to be angry at the two, and poor Pikachu didn't even do anything wrong other than try to make her feel better. The redhead knew she was being impractical and was more than likely overreacting, but she was just too angry to really care.

Once the two trainers arrived at the Gainesboro Gym, they both stopped to examine its gothic structure. The architecture resembled that of an old cathedral. Giant stain glass windows, pointed spires, and gargoyles of various Pokémon surrounding the building. Ash felt a cold chill run up his spine as he realized that he'd have to go through the big wooden doors before him, and enter the ominous structure.

"Well, good luck Ash." Misty said, not showing any real care as she started to walk down the street.

"Huh?" The black haired trainer was thrown off by her leaving. "Where are you going?"

Misty stopped and turned her head to him. "I'm going to go relax at a Pokémon Center while you go get your badge."

Ash was dumbstruck by her willingness to just leave and let him fight this battle alone. "Y..you mean you're not going in there with me?"

"Nope." She said plainly as she continued down the darkened street.

Ash and Pikachu felt a cold sensation, realizing that they would have to venture through this challenge alone. The trainer gulped and approached the giant wooden doors, hoping that the gym had closed. It was nightfall after all, and most gyms never stayed open after sunset.

The door creaked open as Ash pulled the handle.

_Shoot._

He contemplated as to rather or not he should enter the eerie gym. The inside looked to be a dark hallway lined with candles that barely lit the room. At the end of this hallway looked to be a heavy metal door with a Gengar door knocker. To top off the spookiness of the gym, the air that rushed out from inside the gym was cold and brisk, giving the trainer and his Pokémon goosebumps.

"A..are you ready for this Pikachu?" He turned his head towards his loyal friend. All he responded with was a tentative nod. Ash began to slowly creep along the hallway, feeling the cold air from the cobblestone floor run up his arms. Step by step he felt the uneasy feeling that filled his body grow more and more intense. Once he reached the heavy door, Ash began searching for a door knob, only to find that there wasn't one there. "Huh?" The trainer tried pushing the door, but it came to no avail. "Well Pikachu, I guess there's no way to get into the gym." He said, sighing in relief. "Let's go meet Misty at the Pokémon Cente-"

"Pika pi!" The mouse pointed towards the door.

"What are you pointing at, buddy?" His eyes followed the little mouse's tiny hand to see that he was pointing towards the Gengar door knocker. "Uh.. You want me to knock?"

"Pika." He nodded.

Ash made another gulp as he reached for the knocker. He took grip of the metal bar hanging from the Gengar's mouth, and slowly banged the bar against the door. This caused a loud metallic _"clank" _that echoed throughout the cobblestone hall.

There was no answer.

The black haired trainer shrugged. "I guess we'll have to come back tomorro-" With a sudden _"whoosh"_ all of the candles in the hallway went out, blackening the entire hallway. As this happened, Ash and Pikachu both felt a cold chill shoot up their spines as a gust of cold wind filled the room. The trainer wanted to yelp, but the sudden chill left him speechless. Instead all he could do was let out a very faint gasp.

After a moment of standing in sheer darkness, the metal door began to slowly creak open, revealing a dimly lit, cobblestone battlefield with gargoyles of Charizards on each corner of the field. It was easily the creepiest league official battlefield he'd ever seen, but what was even creepier was the voice that came from across the field.

"_La..la….la..la….lala lala, la lalala…_" The voice made his blood run cold.

"Show yourself!" He tried to sound brave. "A..and stop singing that creepy song!" He heard a chuckle from across the field. From what he could tell the voice must have belonged to an old woman, though he wasn't entirely sure.

"What?" She cackled, seemingly making fun of Ash's anxiety. "It's just a lullaby my mother would sing to me when I was growing up in Lavender Town." Upon saying this, the lights lit up, though only just enough for Ash to see the other side of the battlefield. Before him stood an old woman wearing a purple dress, holding a wooden cane in hand. Her hair may have been a dark shade of blonde, but her facial features gave away her true age.

"Agatha?" Ash was stunned to see the nice old lady he met back in Viridian City to be acting so… creepy.

"The one and only." She gave a crooked smile. "It's good to see you again, Ketchum."

"What's with the act?" The black haired trainer asked. "I don't remember you acting so creepy before."

She chuckled. "You're not fighting that nice old lady that toyed with you in Viridian City, you're facing a member of the Kanto Elite Four!"

_Toyed with me?_ Ash thought back to the friendly little battle the two had three years ago when her Gengar beat his Pikachu. _If she was toying with me then, I'd hate to see what she's like when she gets serious._

Agatha grinned upon seeing the concern in Ash's face. "Are you going to battle or not, Ketchum?"

Ash was shaken back into reality by the question. "Y..yeah! You better believe it!"

She snickered. "Good." She reached for a Poké Ball. "The rules are simple, one on one, first to defeat their opponent wins." She then tossed the orb onto the field. "Go Gengar!" Upon the ghost Pokémon's release, the purple monster let out a mischievous laugh.

_If I knew I'd be fighting ghosts, I'd have brought Noctowl with me._ _Oh well, too late for that now._

The trainer looked down at Pikachu, seeing if his buddy was ready. "Are you up for a rematch, Pikachu?" The little mouse gave a serious nod, all sense of fear and uneasiness from before no longer apparent. "Great!" Seeing Pikachu's confidence brought a sense of reassurance to the trainer. "Let's do this!" He shouted to Agatha. "Go Pikachu!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Misty spat out the mouthwash Nurse Joy was kind enough to let her borrow. It took a while, but the taste of her own vomit was finally gone. The redhead then took a sip of water and gargled before spitting again, getting rid of whatever excess mouthwash didn't come out the first time around. She looked into the mirror and saw that her complexion had finally come back. Her hair was a mess though, but that may have been because of the rollercoaster, or Ash holding her hair back while she was tossing her cookies into a trashcan that reeked of half eaten cheeseburgers and whatever other filthiness happened to be in there.

She let out a sigh and walked over to the bottom bunk of the bed she had rented out for the night, and fell flat onto it, allowing herself to bounce when her limp body hit the mattress. It certainly wasn't as comfy as the bed from the hotel in Scarlett Town, but after the day she had, she could care less.

As she laid on the bed, the gym leader began to think about the events that transpired earlier. Though Ash probably thought that she was mad at him because she threw up after going on the ride, that wasn't it at all. What she was so upset about was that he deliberately edged her on to do something _he knew_ she didn't want to do, and he seemed to be getting a kick out of it the entire time.

However, after looking deeper into it, Misty realized that he wasn't entirely to blame. At any point she could have easily said _"No, I don't want to do this"_. Instead she tried acting tough and did it anyways, just to prove to him that she would. So how could she entirely blame him when at any moment in time she could have easily just said no? These were questions that she was too tired to think about, deciding to instead just sleep on the question till tomorrow.

Misty pulled the blanket over her, and turned off the light. As her eyelids began to close, she could hear some chattering between Nurse Joy and someone else over the phone. She didn't mean to eavesdrop, but because Joy's naturally cheery voice carried so well, Misty couldn't help but listen in.

"Yes Doctor Carter, I know that your hospitals don't specialize in Pokémon, but trainers coming from Agatha's gym have been bringing in entire teams of Pokémon that are all in critical physical and psychological condition."

…

"I know it's a big favor to ask, but if you could jus-"

…

"Alright, I understand, we'll make due until then." After that, Misty could hear Nurse Joy hang up the phone.

XXXXXXXXXX

Pikachu flew back as Gengar delivered a shadow punch to the yellow Pokémon. For the most part this battle had been pretty one sided. From the very get-go Gengar hit Pikachu with a confuse ray, rendering the poor Pokémon prone to attack, and unable to fight back. Fortunately, after taking a hard hit from Gengar's shadow punch, Pikachu was knocked out of his confusion. However it was quite apparent that the damage had already been done.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried out, sweat trickling down his forehead. "Hit Gengar with a thunderbolt!" The little yellow mouse began to charge up as his red pouches began to spark.

"So predictable." Agatha snickered. "Gengar, use double team!" immediately, Gengar shifted into two, then four apparitions of itself. Not being able to tell which one was the real Gengar, Pikachu unleashed his thunderbolt at random, hoping to hit the real Gengar; It didn't work. Agatha chuckled at Pikachu's failed attempt. "Gengar, use shadow ball!" After hearing her command, all four of the Gengars began charging up a dark ball of energy, and eyed Pikachu menacingly.

"Pikachu! Use agility!" The electric rodent nodded, and started to sprint across the battlefield, zigzagging across the cobblestone floor. When all four of the Gengar unleashed their shadow balls, the Pokémon swerved between each incoming dark ball of energy, evading the attacks completely. After the attack, the four Gengar rejoined with the original.

"Impressive." Agatha's nodded, acknowledging Pikachu's nimbleness.

"Now! Use volt tackle!" Upon hearing the command, Pikachu zeroed in on Gengar and charged towards the ghost type as an electric shield surrounded him.

"Pika! Pika! Pika! Pika! Pika!" The yellow rodent cried out, dashing closer and closer to his opponent, who was still getting his bearings straight after shifting out of double team. Pikachu smashed into the ghost, sending it flying across the cobblestone battlefield.

"Gar!" The Pokémon cried out as it flew across the field. Before the purple ghost collided with the ground though, he was somehow able regain his balance and landed on his feet. If that wasn't enough, judging by Gengar's expression, the direct hit from Pikachu's volt tackle did little more than annoy the ghoul.

"How did he?" Ash couldn't believe what he was seeing. Pikachu's volt tackle hit with full force, and the Pokémon did little more than brush it off like it was nothing.

"You'll have to do better than that!" She cackled. "Use dark pulse!" The wraith fired a spiraling beam of darkness towards Pikachu, who was still catching his breath from using volt tackle. Being unable to move out of the way, he took the blunt of the attack. The blast sent him flying back to Ash's side of the field, rolling and bouncing on the cobblestone floor until he finally was able to land on his feet and skid to a stop.

"Pikachu," Ash's voice was filled with concern for his Pokémon, not sure if he'd be able to continue to battle. "are you alright?"

"Pika!" Though he was breathing heavily, he sounded sure of himself.

Agatha shook her head. "You're little mouse doesn't stand a chance." The crooked smile returned. "Let's end this! Use hypnosis in combination with nightmare!" Gengar's eyes locked with Pikachu's, his eyes glowing red. The little mouse tried to look away, but the hypnotic spell Gengar put on him made it impossible to avert his eyes.

"Pikachu!" His trainer cried out. "You've got to look away!" His demands were unheard as Pikachu's eyes began to close. Shortly after this, the electric rodent fell to the ground, asleep. Not wasting a second, Gengar began hovering over Pikachu, waving his arms over the sleeping Pokémon. "No!" Ash cried out, watching helplessly as Gengar induced a nightmare upon his loyal friend.

"Pika!" The Pokémon cried as he twitched and began to spasm. Just by taking one look at the mouse's face, it was easy to tell that the poor Pokémon was in an immense amount of pain. Ash called and pleaded for his starter to snap out of it, but all the begging and pleading was in vain.

"I'll stop if you forfeit the match." Agatha chuckled. "You might want to hurry up and do so before Pikachu suffers serious psychological damage."

Ash glared at the old woman. "I know he'll snap out of it! Just you wait!" Though he wished he could believe his own words, he knew he was lying to himself. Gengar's powerful hypnosis spell was too powerful for Ash's Pikachu to overcome. Not even the most strong willed of Pokémon could awaken from this deeply induced slumber. "Pikachu, you've got to get up!" He pleaded, feeling a pain in his side every time he watched his friend twitch in pain from the dreadfully induced nightmare. "Please Pikachu." His tone began to lower to the level of begging. Yet even so, Pikachu remained locked in this deep slumber.

This was it, there was no way Ash could wake his friend. He was left with no other choice than to forfeit the match. If he let it continue, his friend could suffer permanent psychological damage from Gengar's nightmare. "I'm sorry Pikachu." Ash felt a tear run down his cheek, feeling his eyes burn from watching his loyal starter face so much mental torment and anguish.

"Do you give up?" Agatha sounded as though she wanted to end the match, having no intention to severely hurt Pikachu.

Ash nodded. It hurt him to have to forfeit the match, but it hurt him even more to watch his best friend suffer like this. "I for-"

"Wait!" The metal door behind Ash flung open. The black haired trainer turned to see who the unexpected guest was, feeling a warm sensation in his stomach upon seeing who it was.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Agatha snarled, seemingly infuriated with the interruption.

"I'm Misty Waterflower!" She shouted. "And I'm here to cheer on my friend!" Ash felt the warm sensation in his stomach begin to bubble as he heard those words come from her mouth. Misty looked over at Pikachu, who was still under Gengar's sleeping spell. "Pikachu!' She cried out upon seeing the twitching Pokémon. "I'm here to cheer you on! You've got to get up!" After saying this, Pikachu's ears began to perk up.

"What?" Agatha couldn't believe what she was seeing. As a gym leader, she could call this an interference and disqualify Ash, but if his redheaded friend could somehow manage to bring Pikachu back to consciousness, then she'd be more than willing to continue the battle.

As Pikachu's ears began to perk up, Ash's smile began to perk up as well. "Pikachu! Can you hear us?" He cried out to his waking friend. The yellow mouse slowly wobbled onto two feet, and gave a weary nod to both Ash and Misty, still shaken by the nightmare. "Pikachu, do you think you can keep going?"

"Pika." He nodded, shaking himself back into reality.

"I must say," Agatha started. "not many Pokémon have been awoken after being put under Gengar's hypnosis." She smirked. "He's a tough little rodent."

"You think that's impressive?" Ash snickered. "Just watch this!" He pointed directly at Gengar, who was seemed to be surprised by Pikachu's recovery. "Pikachu! Use flash!" The yellow mouse's cheek pouches flared, releasing a blinding light that caused both the ghoul and its trainer to cover their eyes. "Now that its blinded, use double team with agility!" Pikachu began to run circles around Gengar, and then began to create apparitions of himself, much like the ghost type did earlier.

Once Gengar regained its vision, it became confused by the sight of two different Pikachu's circling around it. Agatha couldn't be much help either as she was still trying to regain her own sight. Without his trainer to guide him, Gengar turned back and forth between the two Pikachu's unsure of what it should do.

"Pikachu, use thunder!" Both apparitions of Pikachu began to emit powerful amounts of electricity as they continued circling around Gengar. The ghost type, confused, couldn't do anything more than brace itself for the attack. The two powerful volts of electricity zapped the ghost and poison type, causing electricity to fill it's gaseous body.

"Go Pikachu!" Misty cheered on from behind Ash.

Agatha had finally regained her sight, but only to find that her Gengar was standing wearily between two circling Pikachus. "What's going on?!" She screeched. "What are you doing?!"

Ash cracked a grin. "I'm finishing the match!" He looked over at Pikachu who quickly came to a stop, ending the double team. "Pikachu, now that he's pumped full of electricity, use iron tail!" the little mouse's eyes lit up upon hearing the command. He dashed towards Gengar, his tail beginning to shine as a coat of iron overtook his tail. Once within range of the dazed Gengar, he swung his ironclad tail directly into Gengar, causing all of the electricity filling his gaseous body to conduct to the his tail, creating a small explosion upon impact.

"Gengar!" The ghost type shouted as the blast sent him flying across the gym's battlefield, landing on Agatha's side of the field. Once it hit the ground, it laid flat on its stomach, unmoving.

"I can't believe this!" Agatha was shocked by the events that just unfolded before her. "You actually won!" She looked up at Ash, who was now running onto the battlefield to pick up and congratulate his Pokémon, Misty right behind him.

"You did it Pikachu!" The trainer praised, full of pride in his Pokémon. He gave the little mouse a tight hug while Misty reached over his shoulder and scratched the rodent's ears.

"Great job Pikachu!" Her words were warm and sweet, strongly contrasting with her attitude from earlier.

Agatha looked down at her unconscious Gengar. "You did good old friend," She pulled out its Poké Ball. "now rest." She said, withdrawing the ghoul. "You've won, Ash." She looked back up towards the trainer, using her cane to walk as she approached him. "As such, you have rightfully earned this." She pulled out an oval shaped, black badge that had a single star in the middle. "You have earned the Night Badge."

"Oh wow," Ash gasped as Agatha placed the badge in his hand. "now I just have five more badges to go!"

The old lady nodded, cracking a sincere smile. "You have certainly earned this one."

The black haired trainer returned the smile. "Well, I couldn't have done it if it wasn't for Misty coming in and saving the day." He turned to his redheaded friend and gave her a wink.

She giggled. "It's not the first time I've saved Ash from losing a gym battle."

The ghost trainer looked towards Misty, keeping her smile. "If you were there when he was in the Sinnoh League, he might have even beaten Tobias." She let out a light chuckle.

The redhead looked over at Ash, giving him a snarky look. "I don't know, I may be a good coach, but I'm no miracle worker."

"Hey!" The trainer snapped. "Just you wait and see, I'll take down Tobias this time!"

Misty rolled her eyes. "_Sure _you will_."_

As the two continued bickering, Agatha couldn't help but think about the days her and Professor Oak would bicker with one another in a very similar fashion when they were younger. Of course he was Samuel Oak at the time, as he hadn't discovered his obsession with science and technology at that point. "Oh, what I'd do to be young again." She sighed.

XXXXXXXXXX

The two teens both took their respective bunks in the Pokémon Center's guest rooms. Both of them were exhausted from the strenuous day they had. From walking for six hours, to going on a world renowned rollercoaster, to taking on another member of the Elite Four. It was just another day in the life of Ash Ketchum and Misty Waterflower.

"So Misty, where are we heading next?" The trainer from Pallet asked as he laid his head down on the pillow of the bottom bunk.

The Cerulean Gym Leader thumbed through the Zerra tourist's guide, trying to see where the nearest gym was. "Oooo." She sounded quite interested in what she found.

"What is it?"

"Sunnyport Beach!"

"Cool!" Ash was more that up for a beach trip, especially with August coming up. "Do you think we'll be able to make it before the weather starts to cool?"

"If we keep a steady pace we will." The redhead closed the pamphlet and put it in her bag, which she kept at the foot of the mattress.

"Well," Ash paused to let out a yawn. "I'm gonna hit the hay."

"Me too." She yawned as well.

"Goodnight Misty." Ash said as he turned off the lamp on the desk next to him.

"Goodnight Ash."

There was a brief moment of silence as the two settled into their beds.

"Oh, and Misty?"

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for earlier today."

Misty smiled, though Ash couldn't see it. "It's okay Ash. I forgive you."

Meanwhile, below her, Ash let out a smile as well upon hearing her forgiveness. "Thanks Misty, goodnight."

"Goodnight Ash." She said once again, this time much more sweetly than the first time.

"Sweet dreams." Both of them whispered, too quiet for the other to hear.

* * *

Well, Happy Halloween everybody! I've got a party to attend, and a few chapters to finish up afterwords. I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter.

Until Friday, see ya!


	13. Mysterious Intentions

Well here's the first chapter for today, I was lucky enough to get this one polished up a bit early. This chapter is probably the weakest thus far when it comes to Ash and Misty. That's because the main focus of this chapter isn't really about them... However at the same time the main focus of this chapter didn't really have enough content to fill up a chapter. So consider the content involving Ash and Misty in this chapter to be filler.

Fortunately though, the next 5 chapters after this will be pretty important, and pretty intense.

One last thing, I'd like to address; This past week has been... Busy. I've been running errands all week, and whenever I finally had a chance to work on this, I'd be faced with severe writer's block. Because of that, I only have five of the ten chapters I wanted to complete this week done. I'll try my best to post the next ten as quickly as possible, but I'm really sorry to say that I can't guarantee that they will all be released daily. Fortunately the next four chapters are ready to go.

Now, enough talk, Have at y... er... I mean... Enjoy!

* * *

Nightfall covered the region of Kanto like a blanket of darkness. There had been an overcast all day, causing the stars and the moon to be shrouded out by the clouds. As the veil of night's hours of darkness covered Team Rocket's HQ, the watchtowers around the base's parameter turned on their spotlights, searching for anyone who'd dare intrude onto the base's grounds.

Inside, Giovanni sat in his dimly lit office, cutting a piece of rare steak with a knife that shinned under the lamp he kept on his desk, the only source light in the entire room. As the knife sliced through the hunk of meat, blood began to ooze from it, creating a small puddle of blood in his plate. Once he had a small piece cut, he lifted it up with his fork, and placed it in his mouth. His teeth gnashed into the warm meal, tasting the warm blood that acted as a natural condiment for the finely cooked steak.

As he continued eating, there was a buzz from the phone on his desk. Giovanni placed his eating utensils neatly on the napkin next to his plate, and pressed the red button on the phone, activating the speaker. "Yes?" The crime lord answered plainly.

"The Officer you requested is here to see you." His secretary's voice came from the phone's intercom.

"Send her in."

"Yes sir."

Giovanni pressed the red button again, ending the call. After he did this, the wooden door on the other side of his office opened, allowing the bright light from his secretary's office to shine into the darkened room. A blonde woman stepped into his workplace, silhouetted by the light from outside.

"It's good to see you, Domino." Giovanni greeted as she shut the door behind her, blocking off the bright light that invaded the room.

"You requested to see me, sir?" She stood out of his lamps reach, only allowing the crime lord to see her outline through the darkness.

"Yes, please take a seat." His voice seemed to make a sly hiss as he pointed to the chair sitting directly in front of his desk.

Domino nodded, and approached the chair, casually taking a seat before her boss. "I'm guessing this has to do with the stone from Chester Town?" She said, leaning back in the soft chair, crossing her legs as she did so.

"You would be correct in that assumption." Her boss said as he began cutting away at the steak again. "It seems that the stone is indeed the birthing stone of our little legendary friend." He said, taking a bite of another small piece of steak.

"Well, I already knew that." She replied. "Why don't you tell me the _real_ reason you called me in here?"

Giovanni lowered his knife and fork once again, this time placing them on his plate. "That's what I like about you Domino, always to the point." He folded his hands on his desk, as he continued speaking. "You see, the stone's power grows whenever the Pokémon is near, and as such it can act as a pseudo tracking device."

"So you want me to track it down?" She figured as much, it was only the next logical step for them to take.

"No." He put flatly.

Domino's eyes widened. "What?" It was easy to tell she was quite puzzled by his words. "I thought you said that its retrieval was of top priority?"

"And it is, He made a crooked grin. "but Team Rocket has a vast supply of resources, as well as many other skilled officers who are capable of retrieving the Pokémon. However, it could take seven to nine months before we can at the very least track down its approximant location." He paused. "And I can't let your talents go to waste in a year long goose chase." As he said this, Domino's eyes began to narrow.

"So what _do_ you have planned for me?"

"I want for you to spy on that Ketchum boy and the Cerulean City Gym Leader."

Domino's eyes widened once again, finding her boss' orders to be completely asinine. "Sir!?" Her outburst was a sheer gut reaction. "I already have agent Jessie and agent Jam-"

"Those two are so incompetent they couldn't find their way out of a cardboard box." He hissed. "Besides, the knowledge those two teenagers carry is far more valuable than that idiotic duo is worth!"

"Sir, we aren't even sure if they know anything about Mount Quena."

"Domino?" Giovanni's voice was stern.

"Yes, boss?"

"How many members outside of Team Rocket know your codename, and are still alive to tell about it?" Giovanni's voice began to grow the slightest bit agitated.

Domino sighed. "Five people." She answered. "Lance, Cynthia, Steven Stone, and those two."

Giovanni leaned back in his chair. "Do you think that the champions have revealed your identity to those two teenagers?"

"No," She answered. "That would be absurd."

"Then how else would they know who you are?"

The blonde Elite Officer sighed. Her boss was right, there was no other logical explanation that she could think of that would explain how those two trainers knew who she was. However, she still couldn't help but feel skeptical about all this. "The Mount Quena reports don't say anything about two trainers that interfered with the operation."

"There's a lot of things the Mount Quena reports don't mention. The only thing they elaborate on is that we went there to apprehend Mewtwo, and that at some point during the operation, he erased our memories of him." He began to lean over his desk, allowing for his face to be seen by the lamp that sat on his desk. His expression was quite serious, his eyes beaming right into Domino's. "There are a lot of unanswered questions, and the only one I trust with obtaining answers to those questions, is you."

Domino exhaled, and leaned her head back against the chair, staring up at the ceiling. The idea of her doing nothing more than simple reconnaissance was infuriating, but her boss was right. Those two could probably answer a lot of questions, and their answers could be extremely valuable to Team Rocket. "Yes sir." She replied.

"Good," He said, leaning away from his desk, his face becoming shrouded by the darkness of his office once more. "You will be traveling back to Zerra tomorrow. Everything you find out about them will be reported directly to me. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." She replied. "What about agent Jessie and agent James?"

Giovanni snickered. "Let them continue their reconnaissance on the two. It'll keep them out of the way, and there is always the off chance they might discover something."

"Whatever you say, sir." Domino replied.

Giovanni picked up his knife and fork again, cutting away at his steak. "You may leave now."

Without saying a word, Domino rose from the seat, and made her way back to the wooden door. As she opened it, light began to pour into the office, and when she closed it after leaving, the darkness returned.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash began to stretch as the sun peaked over the trees, being awakened by the brilliant rays of light that beamed into his eyes. Pikachu and Misty soon followed suit, stretching and yawning as they awakened from their slumber. This was the fourth night in a row of sleeping in the middle of the woods, and the two teens had grown quite tired of it.

The road from Gainesboro to Sunnyport went straight through one of the biggest forests the two had ever seen in their lives. All they really knew about the area was that it was a nature reserve, so that meant there wasn't a Pokémon Center anywhere near them, and the only places for them to sleep was in the sleeping bags they brought with them.

This also meant there were no restaurants or fast-food joints around either. This came much to the disdain of Ash, who had to eat the "food" Misty made him. Last night, she claimed that it was canned beans she was serving him, but what she gave him certainly didn't look or taste like it. How on earth someone could screw up canned beans was beyond him, but the redhead had found a way to do it.

_I miss Brock's cooking._ Ash thought as he felt his stomach gurgle, still slightly upset from last night's meal.

"How'd you sleep, Ash?" She looked over at him as she stretched, sleep still in her eyes.

"I slept alright I guess." He replied, leaning up and wiping his eyes.

"Well," She said getting out of her sleeping bag. "I guess we should pack our bags and get moving. Sunnyport Beach is about a week away.

The trainer groaned. "We left Gainesboro a week and a half ago." He began to crawl out of his sleeping bag. "Are you sure we still have another week to go?"

"Hey, I'm not happy about this either." Misty replied, too sleepy to put any spunk into her voice.

"Yeah, I could tell by how much you were moaning about wanting to take a bath."

"Hey!" The spunk fired up. "Unlike you, I actually care about how clean I am."

The trainer from Pallet was too tired to retort. "Okay, whatever." He rolled up his sleeping bag, and crammed it into his backpack. "Are you ready to go Pikachu?" A little bit of energy came back to him.

"Pika!"

Ash cracked a grin. "Alright then, let's go!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Jessie, they're moving." James said to his partner as he watched the two teens from behind his binoculars. After not getting a reaction, he turned to see her and Meowth were still sleeping soundly. "Jessie wake up!" He shouted, awakening the scarlet haired woman.

"Ah! What is it?" She snarled, angered for being awakened from her beauty sleep.

"They're moving." He answered.

Jessie rolled her eyes. "What's the point, James?"

"What do you mean what's the point? The boss said that it's vital that we follow them, and report anything we find interesting."

Jessie sighed. "Domino said that's what the boss told us, and even if that's true, what's the point?"

"I don't follow." A puzzled expression crossed the blue haired Rocket agent's face.

"All we've been doing is watching them walk around and get into Pokémon battles every once in a while. It's been the same thing for almost seven years." Jessie looked up at the sunny sky and began to realize all the time they had been wasting following Ash and his Pikachu around. Almost seven years of foiled plan after foiled plan, all for what? A Pikachu that blew up a Pokémon Center once. Jessie let out a sigh. "Where did it all go wrong, James?"

James put down the binoculars and turned to her. "Probably when we flunked out of Pokémon Tech."

Jessie let out another sigh.

"Will you two keep it down?" I'm tryin' to sleep over here." Meowth grumbled as he rolled over and closed his eyes. Jessie glared at the talking Pokémon, and kicked him in the head.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ow!" A voice echoed throughout the forest.

"Hey Ash, did you hear that?" Misty asked as the two stopped in their tracks, looking around the woods, trying to figure out where the noise came from.

"I don't know, but it sounded kinda' familiar." Ash said as he and Pikachu looked all around them to see if anyone was nearby. "I don't see anyone. Do you, Pikachu?"

The little mouse shook his head.

"I guess it was nothing then." Misty said, walking up next to Ash. "C'mon Ash, we should get going." The black haired trainer nodded, and the two continued on through the thick forest.

The teens continued their trek in relative silence, neither one saying much. It wasn't like there was much they could take note of anyways. After a week in the same forest, everything started to look alike. It was at this point Ash was almost hoping that Team Rocket would fly down in their balloon and try to steal Pikachu, at least that would give them something to do other than walk for hours on end.

"Does this forest ever end?" He groaned.

"Quit whining you big baby." Misty snapped,. "Besides, we're over halfway to Sunnyport Beach!" Upon mentioning the beach, her voice began to grow shrill.

"Why are you so excited about this beach?" The black haired trainer asked as he handed a berry to Pikachu, the yellow mouse taking it into his tiny hands, then proceeding to nibble away at the fruit.

"What's there not to be excited about?" She chirped. "Ever since I was a little girl I've always wanted to go there!"

"It's just a beach." Ash rolled his eyes at her over enthusiasm. "What makes this one so special."

"What makes it so special?!" The gym leader sounded almost offended by the question. "It's the most beautiful beach in the world! The ocean is such a perfect blue, the sun is always bright, and I hear there are even some rare water Pokémon that live there!"

"Rare Pokémon?" That seemed to be the only thing she said that caught his attention.

"Yes Ash, rare Pokémon."

"Like what kind of rare Pokémon?!" The trainer began to jump up and down with excitement at the idea of getting a chance to catch some rare Pokémon.

Misty looked over at the trainer and smirked. "I don't think I should tell you."

"Why not?!" Ash's expression began to dissipate from excitement to something more along the lines of livid. "You've got to tell me!"

She shook her head. "Nope, if I told you, you'd spend all your time there trying to catch Pokémon."

"Of course I would!" Ash didn't see any problem with that. "So please tell me what rare Pokémon live there?" He got onto his knees, practically begging her. "Please Misty, you've _gotta'_ tell me!"

The redhead looked down at his pleading eyes. He looked like a puppy begging for a meal. She let out a sigh, giving in to his pleas. "Fine." She grumbled.

Ash's eyes lit up when he heard this. He then got up and wrapped his arms around her. "Oh thank you so, so, _so_ much Misty! So tell me what rare Pokémon live there?!"

Misty tried to push him away, but his grip around her was too tight. "Ash, I'll tell you if you just let g-"

"Am I interrupting something?" A familiar, cynical voice carried over to the two, causing Ash to let go of Misty. The trainer from Pallet turned around to see that the voice belonged to none other than his purple haired rival from Sinnoh.

"Oh, it's you." Ash growled upon seeing Paul standing before him. "What are you doing here?"

"Me?" He snickered. "I'm on my way to Sunnyport Beach." He cracked a crooked grin. "But I can see you and your little friend are busy. So I guess I'll be on my way."

"Hey!" Ash shouted, not letting his rival just leave like this. "How about a little battle?" He had been itching for a good battle since he left Gainesboro. He had run into a few trainers scattered throughout the forest, but they were easy pickings, and Ash actually felt almost bad for beating them as badly as he did.

"A battle with you?" The Sinnoh native tried his best to sound uninterested, but truth be told he had been waiting for a chance to get a rematch against Ketchum ever since their battle in the Lily of the Valley Conference. "I guess beating you in a quick one on one battle might be fun."

"Wow, this guy really _is_ a jerk." Misty whispered. "He's worse than Gary."

Ash nodded. "At least Gary actually cared about his Pokémon." He then turned away from Misty and faced his opponent. "Pick your Pokémon, Paul!"

The purple haired trainer shook his head. "I insist, _you_ pick first."

Ash scowled. "Alright, if you insist!" he reached for Pidgeot's Poké Ball, but the stopped as Professor Oak's words traveled through his head. _"Pseudo Legendary"_. After remembering this, Ash instead reached for his small dragon type's Poké Ball. "Go Gible!" Upon tossing the red and white sphere, the little grayish-blue land-shark was released onto the battlefield.

Paul tried to resist the urge to laugh when he saw who his opponent was. "A Gible?" He laughed. "How about I show you what a real Pokémon is!" He reached for a Poké Ball. "Go Honchkrow!" The orb busted open, freeing one of his most loyal Pokémon.

"Honchkrow!" It cawed as it flapped its wings, hovering only a few feet above the ground.

"Honchkrow!" Paul shouted, not even waiting to see if Ash was ready. "Start if off with haze!" The black and red bird then began to flap his wings rapidly, releasing a dark, gaseous smog that completely overtook Gible, leaving him lost inside of the murky cloud.

The land-shark was completely blinded by the smog's darkness, unable to see anything. He began to frantically look all around him, trying to find any form of light. "Oh no!" Misty cried out. "Ash, you've got to get him out of there, he can't see anything!" The black haired trainer nodded, already widely aware of the situation.

"Now that he's blinded, use aerial ace!" The dark flying type soared downward, directly towards the shrouded dragon type, being able to see through the smog due to its own dark powers.

Ash watched on as the bird began to close in, picking up speed as he descended. He couldn't order a counter attack, nor could he tell him to jump out of the way due to being blinded by the smog. However, there was one thing he could do. "Gible!" Ash's voice reached through the smog, catching the Pokémon's attention. "Use dig!" Gible heard the order, and quickly turned his massive mouth towards the dirt, and began to chomp its way through the ground, sheltering itself underground.

Honchkrow saw what happened, and tried to halt its decent. However, it had already picked up too much speed, causing it to crash into the ground. Upon impact, the displacement of the air around the bird caused the dark cloud to scatter and ultimately dissipate into nothing.

Now that Paul and Ash could see the battlefield, The black haired trainer was happy to see that Gible had managed to dig underground and dodge the attack. Paul on the other hand was quite unpleasantly surprised to see Honchcrow's aerial ace had not only missed, but ended up working against him.

"Honchkrow!" Paul barked. "Get up now!" The dark bird tried lifting itself up, but was still a bit dazed from the crash.

"You know what to do Gible!" Without any hesitation between his action and his master's command, Gible shot out of the ground, right under Honchkrow, and clamped down onto the bird's torso with his massive jaws.

"Krow!" It cried out, trying its best to lift itself into the air and shake off the little land-shark. However, the tenacious little Pokémon stayed latched on.

"Get that thing off!" Paul demanded. Honchkrow began soar across the sky, making jarring turns and steep accents and descents, hoping that the little dragon's grip would loosen. However, this proved to be of no avail as his teeth kept digging deeper and deeper into the bird's chest.

"Wow," Misty let out. "Gible sure knows how to hang on."

Ash chuckled. "Just wait, this is where it gets good." A grin crossed his face. "Gible, stay latched onto him and use rock smash!" The little dragon type's right arm began to glow, his mouth still tightly latched onto the bird. Paul could see what the little Pokémon was about to do, and knew he had to bring an end to it quickly.

"Honchkrow! Get him off, now!" Honchkrow desperately made one last attempt to get Gible off of him by descending directly downward at blinding speeds, however it proved completely useless. Gible smashed his glowing fist directly into the bird's chest, sending the Pokémon crashing down to the ground. The black and red bird landed with a loud _"thud"_ upon impact, and it was clear to both Paul an Ash that this battle was over.

Gible unlatched himself from Honchkrow, and then ran back to Ash and Misty's side. "That was great, Gible!" His trainer praised, running to the little dragon to give him a hug. However, before he could do that, the land-shark leapt into the air and clamped down onto Ash's head. "Ahh!" His trainer cried as he fell off his feet. It was Gible's on way of showing affection, but this was often to the dismay of his trainer.

Misty approached the two, Pikachu resting on her shoulder. "You did a great job Gible!" The little ball shaped Pokémon looked up at the redhead, and leapt towards her. Misty let out a scream, thinking he was going to clamp down on her head like he did with Ash. However, instead he landed in her arms, and began snuggling against her chest.

Ash looked on with an incredulous expression. "Why does he cuddle with you, but he bites me?"

Misty giggled. "I guess he just knows how to treat a lady." She gave the trainer a wink.

Meanwhile, Paul looked down at the injured Honchkrow with disappointment. "You should have won that battle!" He snapped. His Pokémon looked up at him, taking his master's dissatisfaction with him to heart. Paul let out a sigh upon seeing his battler saddened by his criticism. "It's my fault." He admitted. "I shouldn't have underestimated my opponent."

Ash looked on in aw of what he was seeing. "Is Paul actually being nice to his Pokémon?"

"You call that being nice?" Misty replied.

"You never saw him in Sinnoh." The trainer mumbled.

Paul withdrew Honchkrow, and looked over at Ash and Misty. "You may have won this little battle, but next time I'm not holding anything back."

Ash nodded. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

Paul returned the nod, then began making his way towards Sunnyport Beach, though taking a different route so he wouldn't have to stick around Ash and Misty any longer than he had to.

"He may be a bigger jerk than Gary, but at least he's not as childish." The gym leader said once he vanished from sight.

Ash couldn't help but chuckle at the comment. "I think that's because me and Gary just wanted to be better than the other." He paused so he could return Gible. "Me and Paul just have different views on how Pokémon should be raised."

Misty nodded, understanding what he meant. "Well, I guess we should be getting on our way to Sunnyport."

Ash agreed. "Yeah, let's go!" The two then continued their way down the dirt trail, hoping that they'd be able to get out of the reserve and into a Pokémon Center before nightfall. "Oh" The black haired trainer remembered. "You said something about rare Pokémon in Sunnyport?"

Misty rolled her eyes while keeping a mischievous grin. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do!"

"Nope. I have no idea what you're talking about Ash."

"Please, please, _please _tell me?" He begged.

Misty shook her head. "Nope."

"I'll be your best friend."

"You already are my best friend Ash."

"Okay, well I'll be your super best friend!"

Misty rolled her eyes once again as he continued his begging and pleading. The gym leader knew he'd be so upset when she finally told him she was joking about there being rare Pokémon in Sunnyport, but the redhead figured she could get a few more laughs out of this before breaking the news to him.

* * *

Like I said, filler. I hope you guys at least found the part involving Team Rocket interesting. The chapter I'll be posting later tonight will be a lot better though, I promise. The latter half of this chapter was literally made while faced with severe writers block, and I'm sorry if it shows.

Well, I've got to go. I have more chapters to finish, and I'd like to get all ten chapters to you as soon as possible, while at the same time retaining good quality writing.

I'll see you guys later tonight when I post the next chapter, till then. See ya.


	14. With Fiery Vengeance!

Alright guys, I'm sorry that this is posted a bit late. I've had a roaring headache for the past few hours, but I've tried my best to revise this chapter to the best of my ability.

I can't really go into details on this chapter without going into spoilers, so read on and enjoy!

* * *

The beautifully lit sky of Sunnyport Beach was a site to behold for the two trainers. The beach was filled with people in bathing suits and bikinis, enjoying the hot rays radiating from the late Summer sun. The oceanfront streets were lined with clothing stores, restaurants, nightclubs, theaters, and the like. Up in the clouds, they could see biplanes flying across the light blue sky, banners blowing in the wind behind them.

"We're here!" Misty squealed, overjoyed to finally be arriving at the beach she had dreamed of going to since she was a child.

"It sure is a nice beach." Ash had to admit as he watched the beautiful, blue waves crash against the yellow sand. "We might have to stick around for a bit after my gym battle."

Misty's eyes widened. "You actually _want_ to have fun?" Her tone was slightly sarcastic. "You mean I don't have to drag you by your ear to the beach?"

Ash stuck his tongue out at his redheaded friend. "Sorry, but this isn't a seven month vacation for me."

Misty snickered. "So I guess the next stop is the Sunnyport Gym then?"

"Sure is!" Just mentioning the gym was enough for Ash to get excited about his upcoming battle. "I'm going to get my….." He stopped and looked over at Misty. "Uh, what badge to they give away here?"

"The Fireball Badge."

"I'm going to get my Fireball Badge!" He exclaimed. "It'll fit nicely with these three." He said as he opened his jacket slightly, revealing his Venom Badge, Power Badge, and his most recently earned Night Badge. He began to feel a rush of nostalgia as he flaunted his badges. The only thing missing was Brock, then it would be just like old times.

"There you go showing your badges off again." Misty smirked.

"Well get used to it." The black haired trainer shot back. "When I get my Fireball Badge, I'm going to be showing that one off too!"

The gym leader rolled her eyes. "Whoopee." Her tone was very completely lifeless. "I hate to see what you'd do if you actually won the Master League."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ash raised an eyebrow.

"What I mean is that the world already has enough trouble fitting your head in it. Humanity can't afford for it to get any bigger."

"Are you saying I have a big ego!?" He stopped walking and glared at Misty.

She didn't dignify that with a response, instead deciding to look off a little bit farther inland. As she did so, she could see off in the distance was what looked like stadium with the words "Sunnyport Gym" written across the front. "I think that's the gym, Ash." She said, pointing towards the giant structure.

Ash had a slightly puzzled look as he gazed at the coliseum shaped building. "Are you sure? It looks more like a stadium than a gym." He squinted his eyes, being sure that it did indeed read "Sunnyport Gym" across the front of the stadium.

"I guess we'll have to go and find out then." The Cerulean Gym Leader said as she began making her way towards the structure, Ash following close behind her.

"Pika." The little mouse added.

XXXXXXXXXX

The two approached the colossal doors of the stadium, unsure as to if they should try to open them or not. Judging by all of the vehicles parked outside of the stadium, and the noise that could be heard coming from inside, you'd think there was some sort of big competition going on.

"Should we go inside?" The black haired trainer asked, looking over at Misty, still uncertain as to if they were even in the right place.

"It wouldn't hurt, I guess." She shrugged, just as uncertain as Ash.

Both of them pushed the gargantuan chrome colored doors open, feeling a rush of cold air blanket them as they entered the building. Both of the teens, including Pikachu let out a relieving sigh as they felt the comforting cold air cool them off. As they stepped onto the lobby's tiled floor, they were greeted by a young, well dressed blonde woman sitting behind a circular desk in the center of the room.

"May I help you?" She said in a very soft spoken voice.

A feeling of worry began to fill Ash's stomach, thinking that he and Misty were indeed in the wrong place.

"Uh… Is this the Sunnyport Gym?"

She smiled and gave him a nod. "This most certainly is. Are you here to compete for the Fireball Badge?"

Ash let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that they were at the right place. "Yes m'am!"

The blonde lady's smile widened upon seeing his enthusiasm. "If you will proceed through the door directly behind me," She pointed towards the chrome colored door behind her, where all of the cheering and screaming seemed to be originating from. "the gym leader will be ready for you when he's done with his current battle."

Misty looked over at the door. "Is that why there's all that noise?"

The lady nodded. "Yes, the gym leader likes to hold open challenges to anyone who thinks they can beat him."

"And the crowd?" She asked.

"He likes to perform in front of a crowd, so all battles are open to be viewed by the public."

Ash's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "You mean I get to win my badge in front of a crowd!"

The lady behind the desk giggled. "You're quite confident."

"I sure am!" Ash exclaimed. "If I could take down Tobias' Darkrai, I can take down this guy!"

"Oh!" The lady's eyes widened upon realizing who the black haired trainer was. "You're Ash Ketchum!

"The one and only!" he boasted.

Misty let out a sigh. "Just what he needs, someone to feed his ego."

Ash glared at the redhead, but his attention was drawn back to the blonde lady when she began to speak again.

"It might be interesting to know that the gym leader here was the Elite Four member who beat Tobias."

Ash's eyes widened. "Say what?"

Misty couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Ash's sudden loss in confidence. However, after realizing how worried he actually was, she quit laughing, and began to make a slightly grim expression. "Um… I'll be cheering for you in the stands." She went up to her friend and gave him a light hug before heading towards the door leading to the stands.

The black haired trainer looked over at Pikachu, who had the same worried expression on his face. Ash took a gulp, and began making his way to the chrome door behind the circular desk. As he slowly approached the door, the noise from the other side became louder and louder. For the most part the only thing he could hear was roaring, cheering, and applause. Once he placed his hand on the door knob though, he could hear what sounded like a vicious attack, followed by what sounded like a Pokémon crying in pain.

He slowly opened the door to see a brightly lit regulation battlefield before him, which was encircled by about a thousand people cheering in the stands. The second the trainer stepped into the arena, Ash was greeted by a seeing a Ludicolo fly across the battlefield, landing next to his trainer, while an Infernape stood on the battlefield, victorious.

"The opponent is out of usable Pokémon!" A brunet female exclaimed as She raised her red flag into the air. "Flint is the winner!" She waved the flag towards the gym leader's side of the battlefield, pointing towards a man with a red afro.

"Flint!" Another shiver of worry and doubt began to crawl up his and Pikachu's spines upon hearing his name. The trainer began to think back to not so long ago when Flint easily dispatched Pikachu, Buizel, and Inpernape with only one Pokémon.

"Now, we have a special announcement!" The referee shouted out as the challenger withdrew his Pokémon, and walked past Ash to exit through the same chrome door the trainer from Pallet had just entered through. "We have one of the thirty two Master League contestants here today!" The crowd began to roar with applause, knowing they were in for an awesome battle. "Most of you may know him as the boy who managed to beat Tobias' Darkrai, Ash Ketchum!"

As all eyes began to focus on Ash, he felt a nervous shiver go up his spine. Normally he thrived in front of crowds, but knowing he was about to go against Flint shook up his nerves. As he walked towards the battle-box, all he could think about, even as the crowd cheered him on, was that he was about to be embarrassed in front of almost a thousand people.

_Well, it can't be as bad as having your Charizard fall asleep and refuse to battle on public television._

Though the crowd cheered Ash on as he approached the battlefield, he couldn't help but still feel unsure of himself. He took a deep breath, finding his inner-center, and then exhaled. "I've got this." He said to himself. Once Ash stepped into the battle-box, he looked across the battlefield, eyeing the next gatekeeper between him and the Master League Championship.

Flint had a grin cross his face as he watched Ash enter the battlefield. "I've been itchin' to challenge you again!." He chuckled. "Let's see how bright your spirit burns this time!"

Ash nodded as he reached for Totodile's Poké Ball, knowing that he was the best bet he had for going against the fire master. However before he could grab the red and white sphere, he was stopped when he heard a voice reverberate from the stands, standing out from the others.

"Good luck Ketchum! You'll need it!" Ash looked of towards the stands to see that the voice came from an old man. He was completely bald, and had a long, white mustache. The only other notable thing about him was the dark, circular sunglasses he wore.

_Who is that guy? I swear I know him from somewhere._

"Are you going to pick your Pokémon?" Flint called out to his challenger.

"Uh.. Yeah." Ash shook himself out of his daze, getting his head back into the game. "Totodile, I choose you!" He shouted, releasing the little reptilian water type.

"Tota totadile!" He cried out upon his release, jumping around happily to finally get a chance to battle.

"Cute water type." Flint snickered. "This will be a two on two battle. The first to lose both their Pokémon loses." He paused. "Understood?"

"You got it!" Ash was starting to feel himself get back into the groove of things.

The brunet referee, seeing Ash was ready, lifted both the red and green flags in the air. "Then let the battle begin!"

"Totodile!" Ash immediately made the first move. "Hit that Infernape with a water gun!"

"Infernape, counter it with flame wheel!"

_Countering a water type move with a fire type move? I might actually win this after all._

Totodile opened his long snout and fired a stream of water at the flaming chimpanzee. However, as the stream of water began to approach him, Infernape charged towards the small water type, a wheel of flame surrounding him as he did so.

The water made contact with the incinerating wheel, causing steam to emit from the Pokémon when Totodile's water made contact with Infernape's fire. However, this didn't stop the fire type, as he continued charging towards the lizard, the flames still blazing.

"What?!" Ash exclaimed, wondering how Infernape was able to generate enough heat to withstand the powerful blast of water. "Totodile, jump out of the way and hit him from behind with an aqua tail!" Totodile, using his nimbleness, jumped out of the way of the incoming Pokémon, and began to shoot out water from his tail as he made a three-hundred and sixty degree spin, smacking Infernape from behind with his water soaked tail.

"Aaaape!" It cried, feeling the flame on its body momentarily die down as the his back became drenched in water.

"Nice, but fire attacks aren't the only thing I can do!" Flint shouted. "Use close combat!" Infernape quickly turned around towards Totodile, and began pounding away at Totodile with his bare fists before the water type or his trainer could even react. Watching on as the rapid flurry of punches slammed into the small water Pokémon, Ash knew he had to think quick.

"Totodile! Hit him with a hydro pump now that he's close!" Totodile jumped back just out of Infernape's reach. The blazing monkey then began dashing towards the water lizard. Seeing this, the little Pokémon blasted an extremely powerful blast of water directly into Infernape's face.

"Aaaape!" It cried out once more as the force of the water blasted him across the battlefield, causing him to crash onto Ash's side of the battlefield. Despite this though, the monkey quickly got back onto his feet, his flames slightly dimmer than they were at the start of the battle.

Flint smirked. "I guess I can't play around with this Totodile, can I?" He looked around to see the crowd was roaring, wanting to see more of this battle. "Use brick break!" Infernape began dashing towards the blue Pokémon, running on all fours.

"Totodile, don't let him get close to you! Use water gun to stop him!" Totodile began shooting out concentrated streams of water at the burning chimp. However Infernape's amazing speed and finesse allowed him to swerve between Totodile's blasts of water. Once the fire type was within striking range, his left fist began to glow.

"Totodile, look out!" It was too late though, the powerful fire and fighting type hit Totodile square in his snout with the attack, knocking him onto his back. Fortunately, the tenacious Pokémon wasn't going to stay down, and he began to pull himself back onto his feet, despite the pain he was in.

"Infernape, don't let him get back onto his feet!" Flint yelled out. "Hit him with mach punch!" The monkey's fist began to glow as he drew his fist back, directing it towards the little water type.

"Totodile, duck it and counter with aqua tail!" The second Totodile got onto his feet, Infernape struck. However, thanks to his trainer's advice, the water type was able to duck under the attack, and countered it by spinning around, smacking Infernape square in the chest with his water covered tail. The monkey let out a cry of pain as the water type's tail made contact, stumbling back as he did so. "Now finish him off with hydro pump!" Totodile took in a deep breath, and unleashed all of the water he had built up.

"Infernape, lookout!" Flints order was in vain, as his loyal Pokémon was still recovering from the aqua tail attack. The blast of water completely engulfed the fighting and fire type, washing him halfway across the battlefield. Once the water quit flowing out of Totodile's jaws, Infernape could be seen laying facedown, unmoving.

"Infernape is no longer able to battle, Totodile is the winner!"

A look of disbelief crossed Flint's face. "No way!" The Elite Four member couldn't believe that his starter had been taken out by a Totodile of all things. He then let out a sigh and withdrew his Infernape, knowing that he did the best he could. "Good job buddy."

Up in the stands, Misty began to cheer as loudly as she could. "Go Ash!" Her cheer was so loud that the trainer from Pallet actually looked up at her and waved.

"Good job Totodile!" He congratulated as the loyal water type ran over to his trainer.

"Pika pi!" Pikachu was just as proud of his fellow Pokémon.

"Do you think you can go another round, Totodile?" The black haired trainer asked, being sure that he wasn't pushing his Pokémon too hard.

"Totoadile!" He cried out, more than happy to continue battling.

"Alright then!" A big smile crossed Ash's face. "Go out there and win this!" With that, Totodile returned to the battlefield, ready for his next match.

"Flint," The referee called. "have you decided what your next Pokémon will be?"

He nodded, a confident smile across his face. "You bet!" He answered, tossing his next Poké Ball onto the field. "Go Magmortar!"

Upon its release, the giant fire type stood ready for battle, glaring across the battlefield. However, he wasn't glaring at Totodile, he was glaring at Ash. This sent an uneasy feeling down the trainer's spine. He couldn't help but feel that this Pokémon had some sort of personal vendetta against him.

"Let the battle begin!"

"Magmortar, start this off with fire blast!" The giant fire type took aim of the little water type with his giant arm-cannons, then unleashed a blast of fire that took form of the Japanese symbol for fire. Ash felt an old memory resurge as the fire blast quickly approached Totodile.

"Totodile!" He cried out, worried for his Pokémon. "Get out of the way!"

The little reptile's eyes widened when he saw the attack close in on him. Heeding his master's command though, he quickly jumped out of harms way… Or so he thought. By some amazing feat of speed, Magmortar had managed to dash across the field, and was standing directly above the little reptile. Totodile staggered back to his feet, looking up at the fire type that towered over him.

"Take him down with a low sweep!" Flint shouted. Without hesitation, the fire type swung his right leg, smacking Totodile so hard that it sent him flying across the battlefield, and into the wall. It took no time for Ash and Flint to realize that the battle was over for the tenacious water type.

"Totodile is no longer able to battle, Flint is the winner!" The crowd roared in applause again. It had been a few days since anyone was able to take down Flint's Infernape, and to see someone going against his Magmortar was a real treat.

Misty felt a bead of sweat trickle down her forehead, and it wasn't from the heat of Magmortar's fire blast. She had a terrible feeling about this Magmortar, like it wanted to get back at Ash for some reason. This thought caused her heart to race.

Ash withdrew Totodile, wondering which Pokémon he should pick next. Pidgeot could dodge its attacks, but he'd never be able to make contact with him without getting burnt. Gible was still too small for his type effectiveness to really be useful.. Pikachu was a possibility, but if Magmortar got a single hit in on the little mouse, that could be the end of it, and Sceptile was out of the question. This only left Charizard.

"Hey!" The bald man from earlier shouted. "Use that Charizard of yours!"

_Who _is_ he? And how does he know I have a Charizard?_

Feeling like he was letting the man get into his head, he ignored the comment, and reached for Charizard's Poké Ball. "Go Charizard!" He shouted, releasing the giant orange fire type. Upon his release, his eyes lit up when he saw Magmortar standing before him, Magmortar's eyes began to light up the same way.

_What's going on? _Ash thought, confused as to why the two Pokémon seemed so overly eager to battle each other.

"Are you ready to battle?" The referee asked the trainer from Pallet.

"Y..yeah."

"Then let the battle begin!"

"Charizard, start this off with a wing attack!" Charizard quickly lifted himself into the air and began soaring towards the gargantuan fire type, his wings glowing.

"Grab him Magmortar!" The second The flying and fire type came within reach, it grabbed onto Charizard's wings with his cannon-like hands, using the fingers he kept concealed to grip onto him. Magmortar's incredible power caused Charizard to stop his advance dead in his tracks. "Now, slam him into the ground!"

"Charizard, you've got to break free!" His plea was futile, as Magmortar slammed the gargantuan lizard into the ground, causing the entire arena to shake. The dragon-like Pokémon let out a cry of pain as he slammed against the hard ground. All the while, the crowd began to erupt into cheers and applause at seeing Ash's most powerful Pokémon being pummeled.

"Now, throw him into the air and use thunder punch!"

"Thunder punch?!" Ash couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Charizard, when he throws you into the air, fly away from him and catch your breath!" Once Magmortar tossed the fire and flying type into the air, Charizard tried to fly out of Magmortar's reach. However, Magmortar's impressive speed struck again. The huge Pokémon jumped up into the air, grabbing Charizard by the wings again. Once he had him in his grip, he tossed the flying type to the ground, and came down on him with electricity running through his now exposed fist.

Charizard roared in pain when Magmortar's massive, electrically charged fist slammed into his stomach, electrocuting him on impact. The half flying type cried out as the powerful surge of electricity charged through his body. After a moment of screaming and roaring, Charizard fainted, finally succumbing to his injuries.

"Charizard!" Ash cried out as he ran onto the field to aid his downed Pokémon.

"Charizard is no longer able to battle, and Ash is out of usable Pokémon. Therefore, the winner is Flint!" The brunet referee announced, pointing the red flag towards Flint. After hearing this, the roof blew off the stadium with cheer and applause.

"Oh no." Misty got up from her seat. "I hope Charizard is okay." She then quickly ran down the stairs of the stands, and hopped over the railing separating the spectators from the battlefield.

As soon as she stepped onto the battlefield, a security guard stepped in front of her. "M'am, you need to step ba-"

"That's my friend out there!" She pushed him out of the way, running past him without a second thought. She dashed towards Ash and his wounded friend as a Nurse Joy ran onto the field to check on him. "Ash, is he going to be okay?"

The trainer from Pallet looked up at her, a concerned look on his face. "I..I don't know, is he going to be alright, Nurse Joy?"

The pink haired nurse nodded. "Yes, he'll be aright." She said, pulling Charizard's right eyelid open and shinning a flashlight into it, revealing the pupil to be completely dilated. "But he'll have to stay at the Pokémon Center for a few nights before he'll be good to go." She turned to Ash. "I also recommend you give me your Totodile too. He looked pretty badly hurt."

Ash nodded. "Y..yeah, here you go, Nurse Joy." He said as he handed the water type's Poké Ball to her. "Please take good care of them."

Nurse Joy gave him a reassuring smile. "They'll be just fine, I promise." She replied, taking the red and white sphere from Ash's hand. She then turned to Charizard and withdrew him into Ash's Poké Ball, which the trainer had given her while Misty was dashing towards them.

"Pikachu," Ash looked over at his friend. "Go with them, I want for you to keep them company."

"Pikachu." The little mouse nodded, and without hesitation, jumped down from Ash's shoulder and ran over to Nurse Joy, hopping onto hers.

Nurse Joy started scratching Pikachu's ears after he hopped onto her. "Just stop by tomorrow, and I'll be able to tell you when they'll be ready to go." She said before she started walking off of the battlefield.

"Ash, I'm _so_ sorry about that." Misty said, giving the distressed trainer a hug, trying to comfort him. He lightly placed his arms around her, seemingly finding comfort in her being there with him.

"I shouldn't have been so confident." He mumbled. "Back in Hoenn, Drake said that my confidence was the reason I lost so much. Now here I am, Totodile is hurt, and Charizard is in even worse shape."

"Ash…" Misty tightened her hug. She was trying her best to comfort him, but she didn't know what else there was she could do to help her friend.

"Hey!" Flint called to them, approaching the two teens who were separating from their hug. "That was an awesome match. I'm looking forward to our rematch."

Ash looked down at the ground. "Yeah."

The red haired Elite Four member frowned. "Don't worry, I know you've got it in ya."

The defeated trainer looked up at Flint, and gave him a slight nod. He then silently turned around and began walking towards the same chrome door he entered from, with no badge to show for it.

The fire master looked over at Misty as Ash left the battlefield. "He really needs ya right now."

The Cerulean Gym Leader looked over at him. "I know, but I've never seen him _this _down after losing a battle before."

"Ya know, I had a friend who decided to quit Pokémon battles entirely." He began to smile. "You know what made him want to battle again?"

"What?"

"When he watched me and Ash battle."

Misty's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yup, sure did." He chuckled. "That was because he was bored with battling though. What Ash needs is to get his confidence back."

Misty sighed. "But I don't know how to give him the boost he needs."

Flint placed a reassuring hand on the redhead's shoulder. "Ash is a confident kid, so whenever he fails like this, the world just seems to come crashing down on him." He looked her in the eyes. "So just show him the world isn't going to end just cause of one loss."

The gym leader sighed once more. "I'll try my best."

* * *

Alright, well Ash has been defeated and is going home... Just kidding.

The next chapter will be quite a bit longer, as well as focusing ENTIRELY on Ash and Misty.

Now, if you wonderful readers will please excuse me, I'm going to go sleep off this headache.

Till tomorrow, see ya!


	15. A Heartbeat's Melody

Here you guys go. I must warn you this one is another long one, and absolutely no Pokémon battles in this one.

Once again, I'm not going to go into too much detail in this chapter since that would involve spoilers. However, I will say I'm introducing an original character that does bare some importance to Ash and Misty. If you guys don't like him, don't worry, he'll probably never appear again outside of this chapter, but he probably will be referenced again.

Well, enough of that. On with the show!

* * *

Ash and Misty remained seated in the crowded Pokémon Center lobby. Charizard and Totodile weren't the only Pokémon Flint had been sending to the E.R.. Three different Nurse Joys were all operating on the on the same shift, while almost a dozen Chansies had been running in and out of the E.R., tending to the wounded Pokémon that were flooding the hospital.

"I should have been better prepared." Ash mumbled, looking down at his feet.

"Ya know," Misty looked over at her friend. "You can always use my Pokémon if you need to."

Ash was almost tempted to accept the offer. He had no doubt that between his skills, and the immense amount of strength Misty's Pokémon had, he could easily beat Flint's fire types. However he felt that if he accepted her generous offer, then that would mean he would have conceded to the idea that he couldn't beat Flint on his own. If couldn't beat Flint on his own, then what chance did he have going against these other trainers in the Master League who didn't need help to beat the gym leaders?

"Sorry Misty." He shook his head, still looking down at his feet. "That's really nice of you, but I've got to beat him on my own."

The redhead let out a sigh, knowing she couldn't argue such a noble cause. "Well if you ever change your mind, just tell me." She turned away from the trainer, and began to stare down at her red tennis shoes.

The black haired trainer kept replaying the events of the battle over and over again in his head. He was pleasantly surprised to see that Totodile had managed to beat Infernape. However, the battle with Magmortar was so surreal to the point that it was almost unfathomable. Charizard's strength had been brought to its limits before, but never had he been so easily dispatched. Besides that, from the moment Charizard stepped onto the battlefield, Magmortar looked almost enraged to see the winged lizard.

Ash exhaled before tilting his head back up. Nurse Joy had told him that Charizard and Totodile were stable, but she wouldn't have any word on how long their recovery would take until later that night. She had even implored him and Misty to go out and enjoy the beach for a while, and not spend all their time cramped inside of the crowded lobby of the Pokémon Center.

The trainer watched on as people came in and out of the automatic door leading to the Pokémon Center. Many of the visitors came in with expressions of fear and worry spelled across their faces; others came in just looking completely defeated.

By chance though, as a trainer ran into the Center carrying his badly scorched Staraptor, Ash caught a glimpse of a bald man walking along the sidewalk outside of the Pokémon Center. Though it was a view from behind, he could see his pointed, white mustache peaking out, as well as the temples of his sunglasses. Ash could immediately tell that he was the man that was heckling him during his battle with Flint.

"Hey!" The trainer shot up from his chair, catching Misty's attention. "Come back here!" He shouted as he darted towards the automatic door leading out of the Pokémon Center. The Cerulean Gym Leader kept a perplexed look as she watched her friend dart towards the door.

"Ash, where are you going?" She called out to him as she rose from her seat. Ash seemed to not hear her words as he continued out of the Pokémon Center, and began running down the sidewalk. Seeing that something had clearly caught his attention, she decided to follow her black haired friend.

Ash sprinted down the sidewalk, swerving between the many people that crowded it. He could remember seeing the bald man wearing a white vest with a red undershirt, as well as a pair of khaki pants. Despite this vivid memory of what he was wearing, he couldn't spot him out in the crowd. Frantic, he began shoving his way through the crowd, desperate to find this man. He realized this was a fool's errand, and that there was probably nothing special about this man at all. However, he couldn't help but feel that there was something about that bald man that struck him as familiar.

"Ash!" His redheaded friend shouted from behind. "Ash, wait up!" Upon hearing her voice, the trainer halted to a stop, allowing Misty to swerve between the crowds of people, and catch up to him. "What are you doing?" She seemed to carry a bit of a worried tone in her voice.

"That bald man," Ash tried his best not to sound insane as he began to ramble about his reasoning for taking off like that. "I saw him at the gym."

Misty grew even more confused. "There were a lot of people at the gym, so what?"

Ash shook his head. "No, I know something isn't right about him." He looked the gym leader directly in her green eyes. "He knew I had Charizard before I even called him out!"

Misty's expression grew a bit apprehensive "Ash, are you okay?"

"Of course I am!" He snapped. "Why would you think I wasn't?"

"Ash," She began to speak softly. "He probably saw you compete in the Indigo League, or the Silver Conference."

She had a point. It wasn't like him and his Charizard hadn't been on public television multiple times already. It only made sense that he knew he possessed a Charizard. However Ash still couldn't let this go. He just _knew_ that there was something off about that man, and he needed to find out what it was.

"C'mon." She said, taking her friend's hand. "Let's go back to the Pokémon Center and get you something to drin-"

"Oh my God, I can't believe it!" Someone with a scratchy, hoarse voice shouted out. The two teens both turned to the origin of the voice, which seemed to be directed at them. Before them, stood a short, plump man wearing a gray suit with a red tie. He looked to be somewhere in his fifties, though his thick facial hair may have made him look older than he really was.

"Vinnie?!" Misty's eyes lit up upon seeing the man.

"Vinnie?" Ash looked over at his friend, confused by her excitement to see the stranger.

Misty quickly let go of Ash's hand and dashed towards the plump man, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a tight hug. "It's been forever!" She squealed. "What are you doing here?!"

"I could ask you the same thing!" He replied, taking her in for a hug as well.

Ash was a bit dumbfounded by the reunion taking place before him. He never recalled Misty ever mentioning a Vinnie before.

Seeing his confused expression, Misty turned back to her black haired friend. "Ash, this is my Uncle Vinnie!" Her voice was more than ecstatic. "He practically raised me and my sisters after Dad died."

The plump man began to chuckle. "Well, I'm not really her Uncle, but Misty and her sisters are like family to me." He added.

"Oh," Ash began to understand. "Well it's nice to meet you, Vinnie." He said as he extended his hand to the man. "My name's Ash Ketchum, Misty's a really good friend of mine."

"Ash Ketchum, I've heard of you!" He replied as he extended his hand as well, giving the trainer a firm handshake. "Misty's told me quite a bit about you ."

The black haired trainer's eyes widened. "She's told you about me?"

"Of course!" He seemed surprise that he didn't already know this. "If half the things she says about you are true, you must be one heck of a guy."

After hearing this, the trainer began to blush. He looked over at his redheaded friend to see that she was turning crimson as well.

"So," Misty interjected as Vinnie and Ash released from their handshake. "What are you doing here anyways?"

The bearded man turned to his unofficial niece. "Well, once Daisy was old enough to take care of you, I decided to move down to Zerra, and about two years ago, I opened up a restaurant here."

Misty's eyes widened with surprise. "Why didn't you ever tell me this?!" She began to think back to all of the phone calls they had made over the past few years, and not once did he ever mention having opened his own restaurant.

"Well…" He shrugged. "In all honesty, it just never came up in conversation." He paused. "Would you like for me to take you two there?"

The gym leader's eyes lit up. "We'd love that!"

Ash seemed a bit indifferent about this, his mind still dwelling on the bald man and his loss to Flint.

"Great!" Vinnie was more than happy to hear the two would join him. "I'll get you guys the best food we have. On the house of course."

Now Ash was interested. "That sounds great!" He exclaimed. "Thanks!"

The plump man cracked a grin, and gave him a nod. "C'mon, follow me. I'll show you were it's at." He said, motioning for the two trainers to follow him.

XXXXXXXXXX

When Vinnie said he owned a restaurant, Ash and Misty expected some small diner on the edge of town. No, his restaurant was a large, two story, ocean front building that had its own pier, and over the main entrance to this large building was a sign that read "The Vaporion Lounge".

"Oh wow!" Misty was shocked to see how massive the restaurant was.

Vinnie chuckled. "You think that's something? You should see the inside of it." He replied, leading the two teens into the building.

The inside was just as impressive as the outside was. By no means was the restaurant fancy, but it was certainly decorative. The walls were lined with various pictures. Some old, some new. There was also a fairly large aquarium in the foyer. Inside of it were two Goldeen and a very large Seaking. Near the back of the restaurant, which was also the most crowded, was a decently sized stage that had a drumset sitting atop it.

"This is a really nice place you've got here." Ash said, walking towards the wall of pictures. The trainer looked over all of them, seeing if there were any familiar faces in the pictures. Sure enough, in one picture was a red haired man wearing a black suit with a red tie. Next to him was a man with silvery hair, and wore a black and purple suit. "Oh wow!" Ash couldn't believe who it was in the picture. "You've had Lance and Steven Stone here before?"

Misty and Vinnie walked up next to him to look at the picture.

"Oh wow, it is." The redhead added, a look of surprise crossing her face. "Lance isn't wearing his cape though."

Vinnie squinted his eyes, taking a good look at the picture, trying to remember when they visited. "Yeah," He scratched his chin. "That must've been…" He paused, trying to remember how long ago it was when that picture was taken. "Two years ago?"

The gym leader turned to her adoptive Uncle. "How did you manage to open such a popular restaurant?"

Vinnie began to blush as he started scratching the back of his head. "Well," He started. "I'm not really the founder. I'm just the owner." Ash and Misty gave him a bit of a perplexed look after hearing this. "I was good buddies with the guy who owned it, and when he passed, he left the restaurant to me." He chuckled. "Boy was I surprised when I found out I owned the most popular restaurant in Sunnyport Beach!"

"I'd imagine so." The trainer from Pallet replied. He then looked past the short man, looking towards the stage in the back. "So what's with the stage? Is someone performing tonight?"

Vinnie looked towards the stage that Ash was referring to, he then turned back to the trainer, biting down on his lower lip. "You guys look a bit hungry, why don't we go talk about this over a bite to eat?"

The two teens looked at each other, slightly puzzled by how eager he was to avoid such a relatively simple question. "Uh, sure." Misty was the first to respond. Ash nodded shortly after.

The plump man led the two trainers towards a booth in the less crowded part of the building, being sure to stop one of the waitresses on the way to tell them that Ash and Misty's meal would be on the house. Vinnie took a seat inside the booth, while Ash and Misty sat next to each other, directly across from him. The restaurant owner rested his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together, still biting his lower lip.

"Misty." He looked over at the redhead. "I've got a problem."

The redhead gave him a slightly confused look. "What is it?"

"Well, ya see…" Misty began to feel a bit of nostalgia rush back to her as he said those words. She started thinking back to the old days when Vinnie used to help run the gym shortly after her Dad died. The plump man may have been a great friend of her father's, but that didn't mean he was at all skilled with Pokémon like her father was. If there was ever any sort of incident in the gym, like the time he tried polishing Staryu but kept getting blasted by the starfish, he'd always called for Misty's help.

"_Misty."_ He called.

"_Yeah, Uncle Vinnie?"_ An eight year old Misty replied.

"_I need you're help."_

"_Oh wow, you're soaked, what happened?"_

"_Well ya see…."_

That's how he'd start out every conversation whenever he needed the redhead's help. It seemed that not much had changed since then.

"What do you need my help with?" She giggled, thinking back to the early days of her childhood.

Vinnie chuckled at this. "Well, there's a bit of a problem with the band that's supposed to perform tonight."

Ash and Misty gave him a slightly confused look, not sure why he was pulling them aside just to tell them this. "Uh.. Okay," Misty replied. "What do you want us to do about it?"

"Well Misty," He unclasped his hands. "it would be great if you could sing tonight."

The gym leader's eyes widened. "W..what?" She was completely taken back by this. Off to the side, Ash was just as bewildered by the situation as the redhead was. "Vinnie, why would you want me to sing? I haven't done that in years."

Ash's eyes widened even more after hearing this. "Wait, you used to sing?"

Misty began to blush. "Uh, n..no not really."

"What are you talking about?" The plump man interjected. "You used to sing all the time!"

She let out a sigh, wishing that he hadn't have said that. "What would I even sing?"

"I don't know," He replied. "anything you want I guess. The house band can learn anything if you give em' enough time."

The redhead leaned back in her seat. "I don't know, Vinnie."

"But Misty," The voice was coming from Ash. "I think it'd be awesome to hear you sing up there!"

She began to blush again. "Y..you really think so?" She asked sheepishly.

"Of course!" The trainer was positive in his response. "Remember when you taught Jigglypuff how to sing?"

"Yeah, I remember." She mumbled. She almost wished that Ash wasn't so enthusiastic about this. If he hadn't have said anything about wanting to hear her sing, she'd have shot down Vinnie's offer right there. However, after hearing Ash put his two cents in on the subject, she felt almost compelled to perform now. She let out a sigh. "Alright," She conceded. "I'll do it."

Vinnie's eyes lit up. "Thank you _so_ much Misty!" His tone was more than thankful.

"It's not a problem." She gave a bit of an awkward chuckle, trying to sound enthusiastic. "Uh, should I go talk with the band and rehearse?"

Her uncle nodded. "Of course." He said as he got up from the booth. "I'll take you to the rehearsal room." He added as he helped the redhead out of the booth.

"Awesome!" Ash exclaimed, following her out of the booth. "Can I go with you?"

"No!" Misty shot at the black haired trainer, causing both him and Vinnie to jump back. Not meaning to surprise him like that, she calmed herself before continuing. "It's just that I'd rather you wait until show-time before you hear me sing."

A slightly doleful look overtook Ash's face after hearing her decline. "Oh, okay." He sat back down in the booth. "I..I guess I'll see you when you perform then."

The gym leader frowned upon seeing the gloominess of his attitude. "Don't worry." She leaned over to him. "I promise it'll be well worth the wait." She smiled and gave him a playful wink.

"Okay." He didn't seem any happier.

The redhead's frown returned. "Well," She said. "I guess I'll see you then." Misty leaned back up, and began following her uncle to the rehearsal room as the waitress arrived to take Ash's order.

_I really hope I don't embarrass myself out there._ the gym leader thought, worried not so much about embarrassing herself in front of a crowd, but more so embarrassing herself in front of Ash.

XXXXXXXXXX

After finishing his meal, Ash decided to take a seat at the bar. Of course he wasn't old enough to drink, nor did he care to. However there seemed to be a lot of veteran Pokémon trainers exchanging stories from their own adventures, sitting at the bar. Being the extrovert he was, Ash couldn't resist the urge to sit in the middle of the group of trainers so he could boast about all of his past adventures. Though he wouldn't be able to tell his most interesting tales, seeing as how none of them would believe his stories about saving the world from the legendary birds, or even from Arceus itself.

As soon as he took a seat with them though, one of the trainers called him out instantly as the guy who lost to Flint earlier that day. Another then remembered the black haired trainer as the one who was beaten by Tobias in the Sinnoh League. This immediately discouraged the trainer from even attempting to share his old war stories with them, and instead sat on the empty end of the bar.

_This sucks._ He thought. He lost a gym battle, two of his Pokémon were injured, Pikachu was still at the Pokémon Center with them, Misty had gone off with her uncle so she could rehearse, and despite all of his accomplishments as a Pokémon trainer, he was only remembered as either the guy who lost to Tobias, or the guy who lost to Flint. However, all of these thoughts were interrupted as a nasally, yet familiar voice rang through the trainer's ears.

"For someone who was just burnt, this Pokémon trainer is as blue as the ocean. Do you know who it is?" An unknown man said as he took a seat next to the trainer.

Ash's jaw dropped after hearing this. He turned to see who it was sitting next to him, and it was none other than the bald man who was heckling him during his battle with Flint. "Blaine?"

"Wrong." He replied. "The answer is you. You've been burnt because Flint just beat you, and you're blue because you're feeling down about it."

"I..I didn't recognize you." Ash could have cared less about his stupid riddle.

The Cinnabar Island Gym Leader cracked a grin. "I got tired of wearing a wig, so I decided to shave my head and embrace being bald."

"What are you doing here anyways? Shouldn't you be on Cinnabar Island?"

Blaine waved over the bartender and ordered a drink before answering. "I retired." He replied.

"Why'd you quit?"

Blaine remained silent as the bartender poured his beverage, taking a sip of it once it was filled. "After Team Rocket blew up my gym, I didn't feel like rebuilding. So I decided to go back to researching Pokémon."

Ash's eyes widened. "You're a Pokémon researcher?"

"Of course I am!" The former gym leader seemed shocked that Ash didn't already know this. "I taught some of the greatest researchers in the world too." He took another sip of his drink. "I even taught a very young Professor Oak."

"You taught Professor Oak?" The trainer was surprised to hear this. In all of Ash's six, almost seven years of training, not once had Oak ever mentioned that Blaine had taught him.

"Yup, I sure did." He took one last sip of his drink. "I failed him too." Blaine huffed. "He may have had brains, but he was quite the procrastinator."

Ash had to cover his mouth to keep himself from blurting out with laughter. _Well, if anything I have something new to talk to Professor Oak about._ After regaining his composure, Ash was able to finally ask Blaine the questions he needed answered. "Blaine," The trainer spoke. "why were you at my gym battle?"

The fire expert snickered. "You're just full of questions today." He waved for another drink. "If you must know, I came here to visit Magmar."

"Wait," Ash raised an eyebrow. "Magmar is here?"

"Well, sort of." He took a sip of his newly poured drink. "I gave him to Flint after I decided to retire from battling, and as I'm sure you can tell, he's gotten quite a bit stronger since then."

The black haired trainer's jaw dropped. "Y..you mean that was…. Magmar?"

""Was" is the keyword in that sentence." He paused. "Magmar evolved about a year after I gave him to Flint."

Ash lowered his head, realizing the irony of Charizard losing to Magmortar. For years Charizard remained in the Charafic Valley, becoming stronger and stronger each day. Yet Magmortar, a Pokémon he had beaten before, was now leagues past the orange lizard. "Flint must have some sort of really good training program."

Blaine shook his head. "No better than yours."

"What do ya mean?" Ash was wondering if he had seen the same battle that Ash saw. "Magmortar destroyed Charizard out there!" As he said this, Blaine took a sip of his beverage.

"Magmortar may be strong, but did you notice that Flint didn't have Magmortar use a single fire based attack against Charizard?" He turned to the black haired trainer. "He told Magmortar to use thunder punch against Charizard, because he knew that in a one on one contest of fire versus fire, Charizard and Magmortar are evenly matched." He paused as he pulled off his sunglasses so he could look Ash in the eyes. "You see, trainers who utilize their Pokémon to be effective in areas outside of their standard type are the trainers that are one step above the rest." His look grew very serious. "Your Charizard is more than capable of using moves outside of fire and flying attacks. It's those moves that you have to utilize if you want to have the slightest chance at beating Flint, or even the rest of the trainers in the Master League for that matter."

Ash had received a lot of lectures in the past. He'd received lectures from Drake, Bruno, Professor Oak, and countless others, even Gary Oak had lectured Ash on a few occasions. However, none of their lectures or lessons stuck with him as strongly as Blaine's did. In all these years, Ash had never truly utilized his Pokémon past their respective types. Sure he had taught Pikachu iron tail, and a few psychic moves to Noctowl, but never had he truly utilized his Pokémon past their standard abilities.

"You really know a lot about Pokémon training." Ash said to the former gym leader.

"Of course I do," Blaine replied in a slightly conceited tone. "I'm a Pokémon expert."

The trainer sighed. "I guess modesty isn't a requirement."

Blaine let out a huff. "Just be happy I gave you that lesson for free." He finished up his drink. "Normally I charge for those kind of lectures."

Ash snickered at this.

XXXXXXXXXX

Misty looked into the dressing room mirror, unsure as to if she could go through with this. The rehearsals went just fine, she was positive that she'd put on an amazing performance. However she couldn't help but feel nervous about performing in front of Ash. Yeah, he was the reason she went through with this in the first place, but at the same time she felt so petrified by the thought of singing in front of him like this.

"What's wrong?" Vinnie walked up behind Misty and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, nothing. Just pre-show jitters."

He patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll do great out there." He then began making his way towards the dressing room. "Show-time is in five minutes." He reminded her before leaving.

Misty stood up from her chair, and looked herself over in the mirror. She was wearing a slim, red dress with black, spiked high heels. Her hair was down like she always kept it now, but it was finely groomed and puffed up in just the slightest. She checked over her makeup once more, making sure her eyeliner wasn't running, or anything like that. After seeing that everything was good visually, she then proceeded to make her way to the door.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash swerved through the restaurant's growing crowd, just able to slither his way to the front of the stage. He rested his elbows on the stage floor, watching as the musicians came out from behind the curtains. It was a jazz band by the looks of it. There was a drummer, a guitar player, bass player, and a small brass section consisting of five people. There was also a lone saxophonist following closely behind the other band members.

It was only minutes before the show was supposed to start, and Ash could barely contain his excitement. He was already starting to feel better after Blaine's lecture, and he knew that seeing Misty sing on stage would definitely make his day even better.

The redhead peaked through the dark curtains that separated the backstage from the front of the stage. As soon as she saw Ash at the very front, she felt her heart skip a beat. Both because she was happy to see him so eager to hear her, and also because a tinge of worry from nerves began to overtake her.

_You can do this Misty._

She took a moment to remember the songs she had picked, as well as what order they agreed to play them in. It was certainly an impromptu show, and they were only able to do one round of rehearsal. However the band seemed to know what they were doing, and all she had to do was sing in key and keep in beat. Which was hardly a difficult feat for her.

As the lights on the front of the stage began to brighten, Misty felt her blood run cold. She had never been so nervous about performing before. When she was younger she had sang in front of crowds many times, and she had done countless water ballets as well. This though, this was going to be completely different. Unlike all of her other shows, she wasn't just performing to entertain, but to impress… Although, there was only one person in the audience that she really wanted to impress.

Ash watched on as Misty stepped out from behind the curtains, the crowd cheering as she took the stage. The trainer would have applauded for his friend, but he was too stunned by how beautiful she looked as she made her way to the microphone stand. Her hair flowed elegantly behind her, her dress shimmering under the lights of the stage, just like her aqua green eyes. What stood out to him most though, was the warm smile that crossed her face upon looking at him as she took the microphone off the stand.

"One….Two…..One two three." The drummer began to play a slow, soft fill, leading in for the other musicians to begin. The most prominent instrument, or instruments for that matter, was the brass section. They played a very warm, soft, jazzy tune that carried across the stage as softly as a cloud crosses the sky on a breezy day. The bass began to play a smooth groove, adding a bit of power to the song, but only just enough to put a little _oomph_ at the end of each bar. Then the guitar started up, playing a smooth lead that hit just the right notes to send a chill up your spine. Then… Then there was the voice.

Misty began to chirp beautifully sung lyrics, softly, sweetly. Her voice was like that of a seraph of an angel, finding the perfect in-between of high pitched, yet soulful. Ash wasn't able to make out the first few lyrics, particularly because he was so overwhelmed by how beautifully she sang. Once she reached the bridge leading up to the first chorus though, Ash began to take note.

"_I've never forgotten you, and I'll never move on from you….._" Misty placed her hand over her chest, allowing the emotion to flow through her as she sang the next few lines of the bridge before breaking into the chorus. Since she had started singing, she hadn't been able to really pay attention to Ash, since all of her focus was on singing the song as beautifully as possible.

Once she broke into the chorus though, the brass section picked up, making a powerful rhythm while the guitar, bass, and drums began to provided a powerful driving force to the song. Misty took this opportunity to let it all loose, and show Ash everything she had. "_For a thousand nights and a thousand days, not a second's gone by that I don't…._" She paused, letting a musical fill lead her into her next few words, as the music began to lead her into the next bar, she looked down her black haired friend and looked him dead in the eyes. "_think of you._"

As Ash heard these words, he felt like his heart had just dropped. A faint tear begin to escape from his right eye, but he didn't care. He didn't care if anyone else saw him shed tears over this beautiful song. However he had to think to himself; was he tearing up over the song? or was he tearing up over the words that Misty seemed to direct towards him? Regardless, he kept his eyes locked on the beautiful redhead as she continued to sing the rest of the song.

XXXXXXXXXX

The Vaporion Lounge had long since emptied. After Misty's set ended, many of the attendees left, and once the bar quit serving drinks at midnight, the remainder of the people inside left. Normally Vinnie kept the restaurant serving drinks until two or three A.M., tonight though, he decided to make an exception since he had two very "special" guests. This allowed for them to have the entire restaurant to themselves.

Ash remained sitting at a booth, alone, waiting for Misty to come out from backstage. After her show, she leaned down to him and whispered for him to get a seat and that she'd be out in a bit. That was almost an hour ago. Since then, the trainer had been fiddling with his Pokédex, looking through all of the Pokémon he'd seen, just trying to burn time.

"Mind if I take a seat?"

Ash looked up to see Vinnie standing over him. "Sure, I don't mind."

The plump restaurant owner took a seat across from the trainer from Pallet. "Misty will be out in a few minutes, she needed to take a shower." He looked over at Ash, who had put away his Pokédex at this point. "I'm sure you know how hot it can get under bright lights like that." He chuckled.

"Yeah," Ash cracked a grin, thinking about how blazingly hot he had been while competing under the bright stadium lights in all of the different Pokémon Leagues. "So Vinnie, I've got a question."

"Ask away."

"How is it that you know Misty anyways?" He paused, feeling he should reiterate. "Like, how did you meet the Waterflowers?" The trainer asked as he pulled off his cap, allowing his unkempt hair to flow freely.

"Well, I was a really good friend of Misty's father." He answered, leaning back in the booth. "Me and him went _way_ back."

"Really?" Ash was intrigued to hear more. "Misty never talked much about her dad. She never mentioned you either."

"That doesn't surprise me." He said as he looked over at a picture hanging on the wall across from where they were sitting, it was actually a picture of him and Misty's father from when they were younger. In the picture, her father was a young, lean, brown haired man, wearing an Olympic style swimming suit. Vinnie was the short guy holding his towel. "She was really torn up after her father died, even to this day she doesn't really like to talk about it."

"What happened?" He sparked Ash's curiosity. In the past, Misty had mentioned that her father had died, but she never really elaborated on it.

The plump man shook his head. "That's a story for Misty to tell." He paused. "It's not my place to tell you."

The trainer nodded, understanding his need to keep his adoptive niece's privacy. "I understand." After that, both of them remained silent for a moment before Vinnie began to speak again.

"You know, you mean a lot to Misty."

Ash made a slight chuckle. "What makes you say that?"

"I've known Misty for a long time, and she doesn't talk highly of just _anybody_, but after hearing how many good things she had to say about you, I could tell that you mean a lot more to her than anyone else she's ever met."

Ash blushed at the thought of him meaning _that_ much to her, but he couldn't help but think that her uncle was just being nice to him.

"She means a lot to you too, doesn't she?" Vinnie added.

Ash's eyes widened, not expecting to receive a question like that. "Uh… Well…"

"Don't answer it." The bearded man waved his hand as he said this. "You just answered my question."

Ash felt the need to answer anyways. "It's just that, I don't really know."

"Kid," Vinnie started as he leaned forward. "I've been around long enough to know that when you say you "don't know if you have feelings for someone or not", it probably means that you do." He paused. "It's just you're too afraid to go through with them."

Ash looked down at the table, letting Vinnie's words sink in. He put a bit of thought into what he had just heard, and realized that her uncle was right. Each time Ash thought about telling Misty about these feelings he had started to grow for her, he couldn't help but always think back to his words from the Jacuzzi in Scarlett Town. _"Why mess up a good thing?"_ Truth be told, Ash was petrified of what would happen to his and Misty's friendship if he tried to follow through with these emotions. Would they ever be able to remain friends after words? What if it turned out to be a bad idea? What if she didn't feel the same way about him? These questions as well as many more flooded his mind every time the subject came up.

"Ash, don't worry about it." Vinnie spoke up, bringing the trainer's attention back to him. "Just know that if Misty ever ended up with you, I'd be happy to see she was with such a good guy."

Ash let out a smile upon hearing this, honored to have his blessing. Though, he still felt unsure as to if he should go about following through with these strange feelings he had for her. Before he could put any more thought into it though, he heard a door open.

"Well speak of the devil." Vinnie said as he got up from the booth.

Ash looked over at the door, to see Misty back in her normal cloths, her hair still wet from the shower.

"I'll leave you two be." The plump man started towards a door leading to back room. Vinnie walked by Misty, giving her a nod before exiting through the same door she entered from.

Ash kept a smile as he watched the redhead make her way across the empty room, taking a seat across from him. "You did great out there." The trainer from Pallet was the first to speak.

Misty blushed slightly. "You really think so?"

Ash nodded. "Of course!" The gym leader could hear the sincerity in his voice. "It was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard!"

"You're sweet, Ash." The redhead felt her cheeks begin to warm as she let out a smile.

"It's true!" Ash leaned over the table. "I wasn't saying it just to be sweet."

Misty began twirling her shinny, red hair with her index finger. "That really does mean a lot to me." She inhaled, and then exhaled, making a sigh as she did so.

The black haired trainer didn't speak, all he did was gaze at her, adoringly. Originally he was going to tell her that he ran into Blaine, but he felt that would change the mood of the conversation. Instead he chose to continue staying on the track the conversation was currently on. "Misty," He spoke. "I know I've said this probably a thousand times since we left Pallet, but I'm so glad that you came along."

Misty's seemed to express comfort in hearing those words. "I'm just glad you took me with you." She let out a slight chuckle. "It's just like the old days. Except…" She paused, seemingly hesitant to continue her sentence.

"Except what, Misty?" Ash placed his hand on the middle of the table, his eyes locked with hers.

"Except…" Misty leaned forward, her face mere inches away from Ash's. The gym leader then rested her soft hand in his, both of them locking fingers as they made contact. "Even better." Ash and Misty remained locked in eye contact, neither one speaking. Though their faces were no longer flushed, both of their hearts were racing, and their blood had started to run cold.

The two teens began to lean in towards one another, both of their eyes closing as they did so. Their lips grew closer and closer, seemingly reaching out to each other. Their faces were now mere centimeters away, their lips even closer.

_Oh no._ Misty thought. _What if I'm bad at this?_

_Oh no._ Ash thought. _There's no going back if I do this._

As soon as these thoughts crossed their minds, both of them quickly pulled away from each other, and pressed their backs against their respective side of the booth.

Ash was the first to speak. "I'm.. Um… Really sorry if that was uh…"

"It's fine, Ash." The redhead sounded the slightest bit put off. "It probably wasn't a good idea anyways."

Ash felt a slight tinge in his stomach as those words entered his ears. He blew it… again. She was clearly interested in him, and he pulled himself away at the last second because he was too afraid of what might come about their friendship if they kissed. It was a very valid fear, but at the same time he couldn't help but keep asking himself; _What if?_

Misty let out a sigh, standing up from the booth. "It's late. I guess we should get going." Her tone still seemed slightly agitated, however, it wasn't Ash she was upset with. Ever since that night her and Ash looked up at the stars in Pallet Town, she had felt those old feelings for her friend begin to resurface. She tried to pass these feelings off as just childish emotions that she couldn't get over, but now there was no way she could suppress them any longer. But because she couldn't hold them back and just take things slow, she felt that she had scared Ash off, and now any chance at perusing something more than just friendship with him was gone.

"Yeah." Ash stood up as well, feeling a deep pit in his stomach, and a slight pain in his heart.

XXXXXXXXXX

The Pokémon Center's lobby was completely empty. Any of the trainers that were staying there had already gone to bed, and all of the staff had turned in for the night. A heavy feeling weighed down on both of the teens as they entered the quiet building, their footsteps echoing on the linoleum floor.

Misty felt a tinge pain in her heart. She almost felt heartbroken by the thought that Ash wasn't interested in her in the same way that she had grown interested in him. Maybe it was for the best though. Maybe it was best that they just stay friends. Maybe it would have been a mistake if they went through with that kiss, but she couldn't help but ask herself; _What if?_

The two teens walked down the hallway, making their way towards their respective rooms. Normally they'd just rent out the same room, but due to each of the bedrooms in this Pokémon Center practically being the size of a broom closet, they only had one bed to each room. Although, after the events that just transpired they both felt this was a good thing.

"Well, goodnight Ash." She murmured, turning towards the door leading to her room, not even making an effort to look at the black haired trainer.

"Goodnight Misty." He replied as he made his way to the door leading to his room. As he fumbled with the key to unlock the door, a series of thoughts and memories began storming through his mind. The conversation he just had with Vinnie, his conversation with Misty atop the balcony in Crestpeak City, how happy he felt when they held hands during Scarlett Town's fire dances, but the words that sank into his head most of all were the words from the doorman back at Evergreen Planes, _"You best be getten' in there and fixin' things up with your lil lady friend, or she'll find herself someone else."_

Misty had just unlocked the door to her room, when she heard a voice that she had secretly hoped to hear call out to her.

"Misty?" Ash called to her.

"Yeah, Ash?" She replied, a melancholy expression still spread across her face as she turned to face him. "What is i-" Before she could even finish her sentence, she felt his warm lips meet with hers. At first her eyes widened with surprise, not expecting this. After a moment though, her eyes began to slowly close once she realized what was happening. Their lips remained locked as Ash wrapped his hands around her waist, while she took hold of the back of his head, running her fingers through his messy black hair. Both of their hearts had either stopped, or they were beating so quickly that it felt as though they had ceased completely.

Though the kiss felt like it had lasted for minutes, it probably only lasted for no more than a few seconds. Neither one of them had ever kissed someone else before, and in all honesty the kiss was kind of awkward for both of them. Their noses collided with each other on more than one occasion, neither one of them were too sure which way they should lean their heads, and the kiss itself was even awkward. Neither one tried to pursue using their tongue, knowing that would be too much for their first kiss, but locking a static kiss for so long was a bit of a strange feeling for them. Despite all of this though, the two teens felt nothing but feelings of joy and bliss overtake their entire bodies, warming their hearts.

After a few seconds, they leaned away from each other, Ash's hands still around her hips, and Misty's hands still running through his hair. Both of the trainers looked each other in the eyes, their cheeks crimson red. At first they both had a nervous look spread across their faces, worried that the other didn't like the kiss. After Ash cracked a smile though, Misty found hers as well.

"T..That was really nice, Ash." Misty's voice was filled with adoration.

"I..it was?" The trainer from Pallet felt his heart begin to flutter upon hearing this.

Misty happily nodded to this. "Well…" The redhead tried to find her words. "Goodnight Ash." She looked into his deep, brown eyes as she said this, a warm smile overtaking her expression.

"Goodnight Misty." Ash replied with the same grin. With that, both of the teens went into their respective rooms, closing and locking the doors behind them.

Misty placed her hands over her chest and fell onto the bed, her heart fluttering with joy. She grabbed hold of the pillow and covered it over her face as she let out an overjoyed squeal, hopping to muffle her excitement and elation.

Ash on the other hand, just fell onto his bed face first, feeling as though he could take on Lance, Cynthia, and Steven Stone all at once. He was on top of the world, and nothing could bring him down. His lose to Flint earlier that day wasn't holding him down in the least. It was like that kiss had lifted him straight off the ground….

"Wait!" Ash shot up from his bed, practically seeing the light bulb go off over his head. "The ground." Ash let out a chuckle, momentarily thinking back to Blaine's lecture from earlier, before laying back down on the bed, letting all of these happy and joyous feelings flow through his body.

* * *

And the people rejoiced

All seriousness though, I enjoyed writing out this scene. I even listened to A Meeting and Parting while writing it, just to maintain that certain sweetness that Pokémon has to it.

I really hope you guys liked the guest appearance of Blaine, and also I hope you enjoyed Vinnie as well. If you didn't like him though, don't worry he probably isn't going to appear again (unless for some reason people _really_ like him). I'd like for you guys to know that I was actually a bit hesitant to create an original character that held a lot of baring to a main character. That's why he is so underplayed and probably won't appear again (but will probably be mentioned).

Anyways, I hope I made your night. This was a fun chapter, and I really hope you guys enjoyed!

Till tomorrow, see ya!


	16. Grudge Match

Hello everybody, I'm so glad I could get this chapter posted before 9:00 P.M. However, don't expect for tomorrow's chapter to be posted as early, as I'll be spending most of tomorrow (and almost all of tonight) working on new chapters. So, if (keyword if) all goes as planned, we should be getting to the start of Master League by the end of the week, but this is speaking VERY optimistically.

Oh, something I've been meaning to mention in my updates but keep forgetting, Texas Longhorn is back! He's finishing up his fic "A New Journey". Now, I'm not going to lie, his story is about 10x to the 100th power better than my story. However, his story inspired me to write this, and as such I feel that he deserves to be acknowledged for it.

Well, on with the story everybody!

* * *

The morning sun peaked over Sunnyport Beach, rising from over the ocean. Ash let out a grunt and moan as he stretched upon waking. The events of last night were still playing over and over in his head, allowing him to relive that wonderful kiss all over again.

However, he couldn't help but wonder. What did this mean for him and his redheaded friend? Where they now boyfriend and girlfriend? Were they just testing the waters of a relationship? Or was last night just a release of years and years of pent up emotions? That would be a conversation for later, but for now all Ash knew was that after that kiss, everything seemed just a little bit brighter.

Meanwhile, Misty had been wondering the same thing, bu to a different extent. Unlike the black haired trainer, she was truly worried about the standing in her and Ash's relationship, and felt that it needed to be addressed as soon as possible. This sent a chill of worry up her spine.

Though she liked to talk a big game, the gym leader was no connoisseur in the art of romance. Misty began to think about how she should go about confronting her possible boyfriend about this. Should she just go up to him and bring it up? Should she try hinting that she wanted to know where they stood in a relationship standpoint?

Realizing that she was completely clueless, the gym leader figured it would be best for her to receive a little bit of insight from someone who was experienced with the art of romance before she confronted him about this. Ironically, Brock was the first person she ruled out, knowing that his approach to romance was about as subtle as hitting someone in the head with a brick. She sighed, realizing that the only "experts" she knew were her sisters, and of course they'd give her a hard time about it if she asked for their help.

"Well," The redhead spoke, getting out of bed. "it's still better than asking for Brock's help." Misty then let out a stretch and cracked her back before getting dressed, her body still waking up after a goodnight's sleep.

After going through her daily rituals, brushing her hair, brushing her teeth, and whatnot. She made her way to the Pokémon Center's lobby to check in on Charizard and Totodile. Much to her surprise though, Ash was already standing at the front desk, speaking with Nurse Joy.

"So how's Charizard and Totodile?" The trainer asked, almost sheepish in tone.

Nurse Joy let out a smile. "I'm glad to say they've both made quite a speedy recovery." The pink haired nurse paused as she pulled up the two Pokémon's information on the computer. "They are ready to leave whenever you like."

Ash was a bit surprised to hear about their speedy recovery, particularly Charizard's. After being as badly beaten as they were, Ash expected for them to be in the Pokémon Center for another day at the very least. "Yesterday you said they looked like they might be in here for a while?" The trainer felt he should bring it up.

Joy nodded. "They did, but they have both recovered quite quickly." She cracked a smile. "I'd even say their battle ready."

"What's going on?" Misty interjected as she approached the two, standing next to the boy she had kissed just hours before.

Ash turned to her, a very faint blush running across his face as he mentally recalled the night before. "Charizard and Totodile are ready to go!" Misty could tell he was quite exhilarated by this. "And to top it off, I've got a strategy to beat Flint!"

The gym leader grinned. "And what might that be?"

Ash raised his hand up to her and shook his finger. "You're just going to have to wait and find out."

Misty rolled her eyes. "So in other words, you don't have a plan?"

"No!" He exclaimed. "I do. It just needs a bit of work, that's all."

Their playful bickering was quickly interrupted by Nurse Joy. "Here are your Pokémon." She said cheerfully, handing the two Poké Balls to Ash. "Oh, and this little cutie has been wanting to see you too." Pikachu hopped up from behind the counter, and leapt onto his master's shoulder.

"Pika!"

"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed joyously to his yellow friend, petting him and scratching his ears after he landed on his shoulder.

"Looks like someone's happy to see you." Misty giggled.

Pikachu paused for a moment, and looked towards Misty, a slightly puzzled look spread across his face. The mouse pounced off of Ash's shoulder, and landed on Misty's. The redhead was slightly taken back as the rodent began to sniff her, particularly her face.

"Uh, Pikachu?" Ash looked on, wondering what his starter Pokémon was doing.

Pikachu's ears perked up upon hearing this, and turned back to his master. He then leapt back onto Ash's shoulder, and began sniffing him as well. Just like with Misty, he focused mostly on his face. After taking in a few good sniffs of his master, the mouse's ears stuck straight up, his eyes wide with surprise.

Nurse Joy began to giggle at the sight. "It looks like your Pikachu can smell that you two share the same scent." The two teens turned to the nurse. "Have you two been kissing by any chance?"

Misty's eyes grew wide, a roaring blush overtaking her face. "No!" She lied.

"Uh.. Yeah." Ash wasn't ashamed to answer the question truthfully. He then turned to see his redheaded friend, who was glaring at him. "What? We did?"

Misty narrowed her eyes. "We'll talk about this later." She huffed. "Now come on, let's get this gym battle over with so I can go to the beach."

"Alright," Ash was more than ready. "let's go!"

Nurse Joy watched as the two trainers left the Pokémon Center, the smile on her face dissipating after they left. "Good luck, you're really going to need it."

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash kicked the chrome door to Flint's gym open. Despite the loud _"clang"_ it made, the blonde secretary seemed rather unfazed by this. She looked up at the two trainers as she filed her nails, remaining silent as Ash approached the desk with a slight swagger to his walk.

"I'd like to have a battle with Flint for the Fireball Badge!" The black haired trainer exclaimed, slamming both of his hands on the desk.

The blonde nodded. "Just step through the door behind me, and he'll be waiting for you." After saying this, she went back to filing her nails.

Misty walked up next to her friend, or was it her boyfriend? She still wasn't sure, and rested her hand on his right shoulder as she leaned next to his ear. "I know you can do it." She whispered before making her way to the door leading to the stands.

Ash felt a rush of adrenaline run through his body. He was certain that he could beat Flint now. Between the lecture from Blaine, and the sudden boost he received after that kiss with Misty, he felt like he could take on the world. Instead of trudging towards the chrome door leading to the battlefield like last time, Ash and Pikachu dashed towards the metallic door, pushing it open, revealing that another battle was already taking place.

Flint's Magmortar was battling a Toxicroak, though it looked like it was quite a one sided fight. The poison and fighting type was clearly fatigued, while the goliath Magmortar seemed rather unaffected by the Toxicroak's valiant efforts to fight back. After a little bit of going back and forth, the fire type finally sent the poison type flying across the battlefield with a powerful fire blast.

"Oh no!" Toxicroak's trainer cried upon seeing his Pokémon lying on the battlefield, unconscious.

"Toxicroak is unable to battle!" The same brunet referee from last time announced. "Magmortar is the winner!" The crowd erupted with applause. "The challenger is out of usable Pokémon, so Flint is the winner!" The audience continued their roaring applause, cheering for the redheaded Elite Four member. After the challenger returned his Toxicroak, and made his way past Ash, towards the exit, the referee began to speak again. "Next up we have a returning challenger for the Fireball Badge!" The crowd started to grow silent. "Returning for a rematch with Flint, Ash Ketchum!" As Ash made his way to the battle-box, he felt a rush of excitement run through him as the crowd cheered him on.

_Looks like he got his fire back._ Flint mentally noted. "So Ash," He shouted from across the battlefield, his voice carrying over the screaming fans. "you've already shown me that you can beat my Infernape! So I'll cut you a deal!" A crooked grin crossed his face. "If you can beat my Magmortar in a one on one battle, I'll give you the Fireball Badge, and an Eevee I was planning on evolving!" He paused, Ash could tell there was more to his deal. "If you loose though, I want that Charizard of yours!"

A gasp overtook the audience, especially from Misty. "There's no way he'll accept that deal!" The redhead shouted.

"I accept!" Ash wasn't the least bit hesitant in his acceptance.

Another gasp overtook the crowd. Misty felt her heart sink at the very thought of Ash losing Charizard. "Ash, are you stupid!?" She screamed.

"Have some faith in him." The bald man sitting next to her spoke.

"Blaine?" She didn't need to recognize anything more than the voice. "What are you doing he-"

"I was here to visit Magmar." He cut her off, pointing towards the Magmortar on the field. "I was going to leave today, but after seeing that Ash wanted to battle Flint again, I decided to stay for a bit longer."

Misty found herself dumbfounded, trying to wrap her mind around everything that had just happened. Ash accepting an offer to a challenge she was sure he couldn't win, Blaine being here, and now finding out that Magmortar was the same Magmar from Cinnabar Island. It was like a mental whiplash.

Meanwhile on the battlefield, Ash tossed out his Poké Ball, freeing the giant winged lizard. Upon his release Charizard let out a roar, shooting fire into the air. He had been dying for this rematch, and that was quite clear to everybody in the stadium.

"Charizard." Ash spoke to his longtime friend. "I know you can do this." His voice was filled with confidence, sure that he would win this battle. He could have told Charizard the deal that had just taken place, but he knew doing so would put unnecessary pressure on the Pokémon. Besides that, even _if_ Ash did lose the battle, he knew that Charizard would still be in good hands.

The dragon-like Pokémon gave him a nod before turning to Magmortar, who was glaring at him from across the battlefield. Both Pokémon had a fire in their eyes burning hotter than the flames they spewed. Both of them were going to give everything they had, and in the end, it would truly prove who the stronger Pokémon was.

"Are both trainers ready?" The referee spoke, her voice booming through the speakers.

"You bet!" Ash was the first to respond.

"One hundred percent." Flint beamed towards his opponent.

"Then let the battle begin!"

"Charizard!" Ash was the first to make an order. "Start this out with a flamethrower!" The giant lizard opened his gaping jaws, unleashing a steady stream of fire towards his opponent.

"Magmortar, counter it with your own flamethrower!" Magmortar quickly raised his two arm-cannons, and unleashed a barrage of fire, meeting with Charizard's flame in the center of the field. The two seemed evenly matched when it came to the strength of the flames they burned, neither one's stream of fire overtaking the other's.

The crowd hooted and hollered as they watched the spectacle taking place before them. Even Blaine had began clapping, screaming for more. Misty on the other hand, tightly clenched her hands into her jean shorts, worried about who would win in the test of power.

Flint began to growl, seeing that neither Pokémon was overpowering the other. "Magmortar, unleash everything you have!" His loyal Pokémon was quick to respond by unleashing an even bigger barrage of flames from his arm-cannons, overpowering the orange lizard's stream of fire.

Ash let a crooked smile cross his face, Seeing Flint had fallen for his little trap. "Now Charizard, soar into the sky!" The fire and flying type quickly closed his jaws, and soared above the incoming flames. Magmortar would have directed his arms upwards, but he was exuberating too much power to be able to do anything more than keep his arms steady as he fired the barrage of scorching flames. "Now ram him with a wing attack!" Charizard flew downward at a seventy degree angle, directly towards the fire type, his wings glowing.

"Magmortar, lookout!" Flint's call was futile though, as the Pokémon was exhorting too much power to be able to immediately dodge the incoming attack. Charizard collided with the massive fire type with one of his glowing wings, sending his opponent flying backwards.

"Mag!" He cried out as his body slammed into the hard packed dirt of the battlefield.

The audience began to applaud, knowing that seeing Magmortar getting knocked down like that wasn't something that happened often.

Ash cracked a grin, soaking in the crowd's cheering, but not so much so to the point that it distracted him from the battle. "Now loop around and hit him with a seismic toss!" Charizard made a U turn, sending a gust of wind towards Flint as he did so, causing the trainer to jump back a bit. The winged fire type then reached down and grabbed Magmortar as he flew over him. Once he had a good grip on his opponent, he started flying upwards at a ninety degree angle.

"This is just like his last battle with Magmar!" Misty squealed, seeing the battle was going in Ash's favor.

"Maybe," Blaine's tone was quite serious. "but that was six years ago."

The redhead began to frown when she was brought to this realization.

"Magmortar!" Flint shouted, watching his most powerful Pokémon being carried into the air. "Counter it!" The Elite Four member needn't say anything more. Charizard began looping in the air, getting a good momentum going before tossing his opponent. However when he went to toss Magmortar, his opponent grabbed the lizard by the arm before he could be tossed. Charizard tried to fling the fire type to the ground, but his grip on the lizard's arm was too strong. Instead Magmortar shifted all of Charizard's weight and momentum into his favor, flinging the winged lizard directly towards the ground.

"Oh no!" Ash cried as his most powerful Pokémon spiraled towards the ground, smashing into the battlefield, leaving a small crater in the dirt. Magmortar on the other hand landed without any issue, his strong legs sustaining the long fall. Fortunately though, Charizard was able to get up with little issue as well, but both the trainers could see there were quite a few scratches and bruises littering his body.

"Magmortar, don't let him have a second to breath!" Flint shouted to the massive fire type. "Hit him with a thunder punch and end this!" The giant fire type exposed his right hand from behind his arm-cannon, electricity surging through the huge fist.

Misty let out a gasp upon seeing this, knowing that there might be a reenactment of yesterday. "Ash! Do something!"

Ash watched on as the fire type closed in on Charizard, its fist carrying thousands of volts of electricity. His loyal dragon-like Pokémon stood his ground though, waiting for his master's order. "Wait for it…." Ash held off his next order. Magmortar was only twenty or so feet from the lizard. "Not yet…." Fifteen feet. "Hold it…." Ten. "Just about…." Five. "Now! Use Earthquake!"

Without a hint of hesitation, Charizard smashed his giant right foot into the ground, sending a shockwave throughout the entire stadium, even causing some people in the stands to fall out of their chairs. Magmortar received the worst of it, as he was practically at the epicenter of it all. The fire type fell onto his back, as the shockwaves continued to overtake him. As the ground began to crack and fracture, Magmortar could do nothing more than try to withstand the attack.

"Magmortar!" Flint hadn't expected this. "You've got to get up!" Magmortar quickly tried to scrounge to his feet, trying his best to shake off the super effective attack. "Return the favor with your own earthquake!" The Pokémon heeded his master's command, and smashed his own foot into the ground, sending a series of shockwaves towards the fire breathing lizard.

"Fly Charizard!" Charizard shot up into the air, not allowing for the earthquake's powerful shockwaves to affect him. Magmortar and Flint looked up at the flying lizard, feeling stupid for making such a amateur mistake. "Now Charizard, slam into him with a dig attack!"

"What?!" Flint had never heard an order like this before.

Charizard dove directly down onto the giant fire type, using all of his force to slam his opponent into the ground, and then continue burrowing deep into the dirt floor after the initial impact. This caused both of the Pokémon to vanish into the gigantic tunnel Charizard had dug, no cries being heard form either one of the Pokémon as they submerged into the ground.

"Use overheat!" Flint shouted, not knowing if his Pokémon could even hear his orders. Sure enough though, a red glow began to emit from inside of the burrow. This sight caused a bead of seat to trickle down Ash's forehead.

Then like an erupting volcano, a pillar of fire shot up from the burrow, creating a column of incinerating heat. As the crowd watched on with aw, sweat began to pour down their faces. The only one who seemed rather unfazed by this was Blaine, who stared directly into the fire.

Once the stream of fire began to subside, there was a moment of silence amongst the entire stadium. Ash looked on with worry, while Flint watched on with a grin. Smoke began to pour out from the burrow, causing a few of those in the audience to cough.

After about thirty seconds or so, a shadow began to emerge from the smoke. The audience sat on the edge of their seats, unable to see who it was behind the smoke. Misty began to bite down on her lip, hoping that it was Charizard to emerge from the flames. However as the shadow became clearer, the audience quickly realized who it was.

Magmortar staggered out from the hole, cuts and bruises scattered all over his body. There was a severe look of pain riddled across his face as well. It clearly looked like more had gone on inside of the burrow other than the overheat attack.

"Oh no." Misty began to feel a tear run down her cheek, knowing that Ash was going to have to give up Charizard.

Ash felt a pit in his stomach. This was it. This was the end of the battle. He threw everything he had at his opponent, and that still wasn't enough. He lowered the brim of his hat, knowing that his journey was going to end here. Even his strongest Pokémon could not defeat Flint's Magmortar, and without Charizard, he stood little chance in the Master League.

The referee slowly approached the hole on the battlefield, looking into it to see if she could spot Charizard inside. It was too smoggy to see clearly though. After about a minute or two of waiting for the winged lizard to emerge, she shook her head and returned to the sidelines so she could give her decision.

"Charizard is unable to battle Magmortar is the winn-"

"Raaaaargh!" A deep roar bellowed from inside of the hole. Flint's eyes winded when he heard this, as did his Pokémon's. Ash and Misty on the other hand felt a glimmer of hope.

"Mag?" The giant fire type slowly began to approach the hole. Once he began his approach though, he started to feel the ground beneath him shake. He stopped in his tracks, and looked down, trying to figure out what was causing earth to tremor below him.

"Magmortar!" Flint shouted. "Get out of ther-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, the ground below the hulking Pokémon bursted open, Charizard soaring out from beneath him. The giant lizard took hold of Magmortar once again as he soared into the air, catching him completely off guard.

"Charizard!" Ash cried out, a tear of joy streaming down his cheek.

"I don't believe this!" Flint had never seen anything like this occur in battle before.

Meanwhile in the stands, Misty and Blaine began to cheer on Ash and Charizard as they watched the giant lizard carry his opponent into the sky.

Remembering that they were still in battle, Ash gave his loyal Pokémon an order. "Use seismic toss!" The dragon-like Pokémon began looping in the air once more, hanging on tightly to his opponent. After making three big loops, he grabbed Magmortar by his arm-cannon, and flung him down into the same hole he had burrowed earlier.

Magmortar let out a cry as he was flung towards the ground. His giant body slammed into the hole in the earth, creating a tremor upon impact. Charizard looked down at his opponent, to see that he was laying flat on his back inside of the burrow, but still moving.

"Now finish em' off with overheat!" Ash gave out the last order.

"No!" Flint cried out.

Charizard opened his jaws as wide as he could, the flame on his tail growing brighter and brighter. He then unleashed a powerful stream of fire directly towards his downed opponent, filling the hole with scalding hot flames. Both of the trainers knew that there was no way Magmortar would get up after this.

Once the flames and smoke had died down, the referee ran back to the hole to see that Magmortar was completely unconscious. She then ran back to her post to give her final word on the battle. "Magmortar is unable to battle, Charizard is the winner!"

The audience exploded with cheer and applause, Misty being the loudest of them all. "You did it!" She cried out to her black haired friend. "I knew you could do it!"

The former gym leader looked over at the redhead and cracked a grin. "Follow me." He said as he got up from his seat. "I'll take you down to congratulate him." Misty gave him a nod, and followed the fire expert down to the battlefield.

Flint crossed his arms and shook his head, a smile across his face. "The fire in you burns brighter than any I've ever seen." He reached into one of his many pockets, and pulled out a badge that resembled a meteor. "Which is why you've earned this!" He held the badge up towards Ash, who was still making his way across the battlefield.

While Ash made his way to Flint, Charizard jumped down into the burrow that Magmortar laid in. The lizard then took hold of his rival, and helped him back onto his feet, even helping him out of the burrow. Ash and Flint both stopped to take note of the act of respect Charizard was showing for his opponent.

"I'm glad you won, Ash." Flint said as his challenger approached. "For a Pokémon to show that much respect for their opponent, just shows how great of a trainer you really are." As he said these words, Blaine and Misty approached the two.

"That was amazing, Ash!" She ran up to her friend and gave him a hug, Ash was more than happy to return it.

"But we did agree to a deal." Flint continued. He pulled out a Poké Ball, and tossed it to the ground. Upon it's opening, it unveiled a little Eevee that was probably no more than a year old, judging by the size. "She's all yours, my friend."

"Aww!" Misty couldn't help but admire the adorable little fox-like Pokémon.

Eevee pounced into Ash's arms, happy to be introduced to her new master. Ash let out a smile, while Pikachu leaned down from Ash's shoulder so he could get a closer look at his new friend.

"Pika pi?" The little mouse spoke.

Eevee then looked up at the yellow rodent, and licked him across the nose.

"It looks like she's fitting in already." Blaine chuckled.

"Yeah," Ash replied, looking down at the little Pokémon. He then looked up at Misty, who was completely enthralled by the little Eevee. "but I can think of someone who she'd like even more." Misty's eyes widened, a bit perplexed by his words. "Here ya go, Misty." He said as he handed the little fox over to his redheaded friend.

The Cerulean Gym Leader's eyes lit up upon receiving this gift. "Oh Ash, you don't have to do this!" She exclaimed as she took hold of the Pokémon. "You were the one who earned her."

"Yeah," The trainer from Pallet said, giving her a warm smile. "but I'm giving her to you."

Misty began to slowly form a warm smile, followed by "Thank you, Ash". She then held the Pokémon close to her, allowing for it to lick her on the cheek.

Blaine and Flint exchanged looks, quietly chuckling to themselves. "Well," Flint interjected into their little moment. "you've earned this." He handed the meteor shaped badge to the black haired trainer. "You've earned the Fireball Badge."

Ash took the badge from Flint, and pinned it to the inside of his jacket, overjoyed to receive his fourth badge. "Yes!" He shouted. "I'm halfway to the Master League!"

"Don't get too worked up." Flint chuckled. "You've still got to get to Ebonyville to get your next badge."

Misty placed a hand on Ash's shoulder before he could reply. "That'll have to wait until tomorrow." She spoke for the trainer from Pallet. ""We still have a day to spend a day at the beach first."

Ash turned to his friend. "But Misty…" He almost looked like a sad puppy. "I'm halfway there!"

"Tough." She said sternly. "We're going to spend the rest of the day at the beach, and we can leave for Ebonyville tomorrow."

"Fine." He sighed.

The redhead rolled her eyes. "I remember the days when it was almost impossible to keep you focused on training. Now it's almost impossible to make you have a little bit of fun." She giggled.

* * *

Alrighty, that was probably my favorite battle thus far. Oh, and I guess I should say the reason why I haven't been doing any 3 vs 3 gym battles is because then the reading just becomes cumbersome. I feel there are already a lot more battles than there should be, and the end of this is going to have quite a few 6 vs 6 battles... Of course these battles will be separated by character growth chapters.

I'd also like to bring up that I've been receiving quite a bit of suggestions on what readers would for me to put in future chapters, while I do appreciate the input, if you want to give a suggestion, you might want to suggest something that could happen farther down the line than just the next chapter. As I'm sure any of you who read these author notes have already realized, I always have multiple chapters finished to be posted by the time I start uploading them. This makes it nearly impossible to add these (really good) suggestions. However, I know that it's impossible for you guys to know what is going to be happening five or six chapters down the line. So you might want to limit your suggestions to ideas for returning characters or things like that. I would like to iterate though that I read and consider EVERY suggestion that is sent to me, and I ALWAYS appreciate the feedback.

Finally, this may be a really small thing to be happy about, but I felt all warm inside when I saw that The Master's Journey has reached the top of page 11 of all 84 pages of Ash and Misty fics when searching through the most amount of favorites. Basically, I just want to take a moment to thank all of you loyal readers out there who have been reading this story. It really does mean a lot to me every time I see you guys post a review on how much you like the story, or just a review telling me that you're looking forward to the next chapter. All of you guys and girls out there mean a lot to me, and I'm going to continue to try my best to provide you with the best work I have to offer.

With that, stay classy internet. I'll see you tomorrow.


	17. Desperation

Guys, I am so, so, so, so sorry that I didn't post a chapter last night. An unexpected event came up and I had to attend to it, so I wasn't able to revise this chapter as much as I needed to yesterday. And just for future reference, whenever I face a very brief delay like that, I'll just post it in the reviews. If it's a big delay though, I'll post an update chapter to tell you what's going on.

Anyways... Without further adieu, enjoy the chapter.

* * *

After a well deserved day of rest and relaxation at Sunnyport Beach, Ash and Misty had found their way onto the path leading to Ebonyville. The dirt road lead through a rocky, almost mountainous area. The air was thick with dust, and the late summer sun beamed down on the two teens and the Pikachu. It was fortunate that Summer was almost over, otherwise the weather would have been torture for the two.

The entire time, Misty had been thinking about the kiss her and Ash shared two days prior. She still hadn't called her sisters, afraid that she'd never hear the end of it if she told them that her and Ash had kissed.

What worried the gym leader though, was that ever since the kiss, Ash had been acting more or less the same as he always had. Misty truly started to wonder if the kiss was indeed just an impulsive, hormonal act; or if it was that he wanted to be in a relationship with her, but was just too afraid to follow through with it. Either way, Misty needed to confront him about it. She just didn't know how to go about it though. The redhead had even gotten to the point where she started playing out mental conversations in her head.

"_Hey Ash?"_ She'd say.

"_Yeah, Mist?"_

"_What was with that kiss?" _

"_What do you mean? Did you not like it?"_

Of course at this point, she'd start to feel awkward, but she'd have to force herself to continue the conversation. _"No, not that. It was great and all…." _She'd say this with a blush. _"But I was wondering, what does that make… us?"_

From here, Ash would give her an answer, but she was far too terrified to think about what the answer might be. It could be something great, like _"Well, I thought that'd make us boyfriend and girlfriend."_ Or it might be something not so great, like _"I don't know. I think it was a mistake, and we should just be friends."_

She let out a sigh, feeling as though she might have just been over thinking the whole thing. _I'll just ask him about it tonight._

"Hey Mist?" The trainer called to her.

Misty jumped a bit, slightly surprised by her friend. "Yeah?"

"I just uh… wanted to say…. Uh…" He started to scratch the back of his head, and wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.

"Say what, Ash?"

The trainer stopped walking, Misty followed suit. "I just wanted to say that um… Maybe we jumped the gun a bit?"

The redhead felt a pit in her stomach. "What are you talking about?" She already knew the answer to that question.

"Ya know?" He paused, hoping she'd get the hint. "The kiss…"

"Oh…" She could feel her heart drop. "It was a mistake, wasn't it?"

"No!" Ash was quick to deny. "It wasn't a mistake at all!" He stopped to chuckle. "I..it was pretty great, actually."

Upon hearing these words, her heart began to slowly warm, feeling like there was still a bit of hope.

"It's just that I still don't really _get_ these feelings I have for you So maybe we should just… well, ya know? Take it slow?"

Misty breathed out a sigh of relief. "Okay." She replied with a smile. "So how'd you like to go about this then?" She was much more comfortable talking about this with him than she originally thought she'd be.

Ash began to blush a bit. "Maybe…. We could go on one of those… Um… uh… what are they called?" Misty had never seen the trainer this flustered before. "Those things where two people go out and do stuff?" Ash knew what the word was, but he was too rattled to recall the word from his brain.

"A date?"

"Yeah, those." He felt completely and utterly embarrassed that he couldn't even remember a simple word like "date".

The gym leader giggled, both at how cute he was when he was nervous, and also because of how flattered she was to be asked out on a date. "That sounds like a great idea."

Ash's heart rate began to slow upon hearing her accept his offer. "Great!" He didn't even attempt to hide his excitement.

"So what did you have in mind?" Misty asked, a warm smile across her face.

The trainer froze. He hadn't really put much thought into what they would do. Honestly he didn't even think she'd take him up on the offer, so the thought of what they'd do on their date hadn't even crossed his mind. "Uh…" He started to speak. "How about we go out somewhere when we get to Ebonyville?" It was a broad answer, but he had to think quick.

Misty chuckled at Ash's nervousness. "That sounds goo-"

"Well _hello,_ Beautiful!" A familiar voice interjected.

The two teens turned to see who the voice belonged to. Upon seeing that it was the spiky haired blonde from Crestpeak City, Ash and Pikachu began to feel a wave of resentment rush through their bodies. Misty on the other hand, seemed almost flattered to see him, this didn't help the trainer from Pallet hide his detest for him.

"Oh, hi Zak!" The redhead was far more excited to see him than Ash was.

"How's it goin'?" He strutted towards the two, oozing both confidence and arrogance. "I didn't think I'd run into _you_ here." He winked at the gym leader, Misty couldn't help but blush at this. Ash and Pikachu on the other hand, didn't take too kindly to his remarks.

"We're on our way to Ebonyville." Ash growled, answering for Misty. Until this point, Zak hadn't even taken notice of the trainer. "As a matter of fact, when we get there, we're going on a date." He tried his best to hide his resentment for the blonde.

Zak let out a little chuckle upon hearing this. "Okay kid, whatever you say." After brushing off Ash's comment, he then turned back to Misty. "So, have you thought about that offer I made back at Crestpeak?"

Misty began to blush, once again flattered by the Silver Conference runner up. "Sorry," She replied. "but me and Ash _are_ going on a date when we get to Ebonyville."

Unlike the last time she shot down his offer, Zak began to frown. He then looked back over at Ash, who was quite clearly irritated by his presence, he then turned back to the redhead. "Really?" There was a hint of disbelief in his voice.

"Uh.. Yeah." Misty was a bit puzzled by his inability to believe her. Ash couldn't help but snicker upon seeing the hope of having a shot with Misty dissipate from Zak's expression.

The blonde could see Ash's smirk from his peripheral vision. Any other time, he could have cared less. However his bruised ego wouldn't allow him to let it go. "What are you smiling about?" His tone wasn't so much angry, as it was irritated.

Ash remained silent, keeping his little smirk.

"Alright then." Zak grumbled. "How about we see if you're still smiling after I beat you in a Pokémon battle?"

Misty raised an eyebrow, a bit thrown off by how irritated the otherwise laid back trainer seemed to be acting. Upon realizing that he may not have been as "cool" as he first came across to be, the redhead made her way to Ash's side.

"I'd love to." Ash replied, reaching for a Poké Ball.

The blonde seemed just as eager to battle, feeling that he had to redeem his ego. "Well let's go!" He tossed his Poké Ball onto the field. "Go Swampert!" The red and white sphere busted open, revealing the water and ground type.

Seeing who his opponent was, Ash reached for a Pokémon he hadn't gotten a chance to use in battle yet. "Pidgeot, I choose you!" He tossed the orb, unleashing the giant bird.

"Pidgeot!" He cried out upon his release, ready to battle. Ash cracked a smile, feeling a rush of excitement fill his body as he finally had a chance to use his old friend in battle.

"Swampert!" Zak called to his Pokémon. "Start this off with an arm hammer!" The water type leapt towards the flying type, his entire left arm glowing.

Ash and Misty were both a bit taken back by the big move he was pulling from the very start of the match. "Pidgeot, blind him with sand attack!" Pidgeot heeded his master's command, and flew up into the air, flapping his wings as fast as he could, in turn flinging sand into the eyes of Swampert. However, Swampert's eyes were naturally made to withstand dirt and dust, as its natural habitat was inside of muddy waters.

Swampert powered through the gust of sand, and swung his arm directly across Pidgeot's body, sending the bird flying across the rocky field. Ash and Misty let out a gasp upon seeing the bird take the hard hit. Fortunately though, Pidgeot was able to recover from the attack, and maintained flight.

"Pidgeot, use wing attack!" Ash knew he had to retaliate quickly, realizing that Zak didn't play around when it came to Pokémon battles. The flying type swooped down, his wings glowing. Swampert braced himself for the oncoming attack, showing no real concern in its expression. Pidgeot's wing slammed into the water type, causing it to stumble back a bit, but dealing no serious damage.

Zak snickered. "You're going to have to do better than that!" He gave Ash a crooked smirk. "Swampert is as tough as it gets." He then turned his attention back to his Pokémon. "Show that Pidgeot what your scald attack can do!" The mudfish Pokémon opened his jaws, steam pouring out of them, and unleashed a stream of searing hot water towards the magnificent bird.

"Pidgeot!" The black haired trainer screamed to his Pokémon. "Look out!" Pidgeot was able to swerve out of the way of the initial blast, but Swampert kept turning his head towards his opponent, not ceasing the stream of scalding water.

"Ash!" Misty could see that the fight was not going in his favor. "You can't keep playing defense like this!"

"That's a lot easier said than done!" He snapped, not diverting his eyes away from the battle. Then a thought hit him. Swampert may have been a water type, but it also doubled up as a ground type, which meant it wasn't resistant to water attacks. "Pidgeot!" Ash called to his Pokémon. "Use mirror move!" Pidgeot quickly turned to Swampert, who was still spewing out hot water. The bird opened his beak, mimicking his opponent, steam spewing out of his mouth. Pidgeot then unleashed his own stream of hot water towards the stationary Swampert.

The blast was able to make contact with the mudfish before it could get a clear shot on Pidgeot. The scalding water blasted into him, sending him flying back, crying out in pain as the searing liquid burnt his skin.

"What's going on?!" Zak couldn't believe that he was seeing Swampert knocked off his feet by a water attack.

"Now, Pidgeot!" Ash didn't bother to explain to Zak why the attack was effective. "take Swampert down with air slash!" Pidgeot began flapping his wings, sending auras of spinning blades towards his shaken opponent. The blades closed in on the water and ground type, nearly making contact with him before Zak retaliated.

"Use ice beam!" Swampert looked back up, aiming at his opponent as he fired a blast of ice from his mouth, ripping through the air blades, and zooming in on Pidgeot.

"Oh no! Get out of the way!" Though Pidgeot was able to move just enough to avoid taking a direct hit, the ice beam clipped his wing, freezing it, and sending the bird crashing to the ground. Ash and Misty almost started running towards the bird, but stopped when they saw him get back onto his feet, his wing still icy after the blast.

"Now that he's grounded, use earthquake!" Swampert slammed both of his fists into the ground, sending shockwaves towards the flightless bird. Ash had to think quick again, knowing there was no way Pidgeot could take flight with his wing frozen like it was. There was one idea that he had that could stop the attack, but it almost sounded too crazy to work.

"Use mirror move!" Pidgeot smashed his foot into the ground as well, creating a series of shockwaves directed towards Swampert. As the shockwaves from the two different attacks made contact, it caused the ground between the two to crack and fissure, but in turn stopping the shockwaves from proceeding any further.

"What?" Zak was surprised, impressed, and frustrated all at the same time. "Oh well," He shook it off. "Let's see how easily that Pidgeot can avoid attacks when he can't fly!" He shouted as a smirk crossed his face once again. "Use scald again!"

_Did he just say what I think he said?_ Ash couldn't believe that of all the attacks Swampert could use, he chose to use _that_ attack. "Pidgeot, block it with your frozen wing!" The bird quickly shielded himself with his ice cold wing, allowing for it to take the blunt of the blast of hot water. Though the attack did hurt, his wing was quickly beginning to thaw. After Swampert ceased the attack, Pidgeot lowered his now freshly thawed wing before taking flight once again.

"Oh man!" Zak couldn't believe what he'd done. "How could I be so stupid!?"

"We'll maybe you'll learn next time." Ash threw a look towards his opponent before ordering an attack. "Pidgeot! Use wing attack!" The bird swooped down once again, his wings glowing. When his wings smashed into Swampert, Ash and Misty felt a rush as they saw the Pokémon fall off of his feet. After hitting the ground, Swampert didn't get up.

"No way!" Zak ran over to Swampert, unable to believe that he had been beaten.

Ash on the other hand was congratulating his loyal flying type. "Good job Pidgeot, not too shabby for your first battle in five years." The black haired trainer chuckled. Pidgeot replied by letting out a caw before returning to his Poké Ball.

"Good job, Ash." Misty said with a smile.

"I can't believe this!" Zak screamed, still standing next to Swampert. "Nobody beats the Silver Conference runner up!"

Ash scratched the back of his head. "Well if you were runner up, _somebody_ must've beaten you." He didn't say this with any ill intent, but he did take a bit of pleasure in further bruising the ego of the arrogant trainer. "C'mon Mist, let's get to Ebonyville."

Misty replied with a nod, and followed Ash as he made his way past Zak and Swampert, continuing down the rocky path. As they passed the blonde trainer though, a look of rage began to erupt on his face. Zak had always been known for "keeping his cool", but as anyone who had seen him beaten before could tell you, he had quite the temper below his cool exterior.

"Swampert!" He shouted to his Pokémon that had just gotten back up onto its feet. "Use ice beam!" He ordered, pointing directly at Ash, who had his back turned to him. Not thinking about who he was aiming at, Swampert blindly followed his master's command and opened up his gaping jaws, directing itself towards the black haired trainer.

Ash and Misty turned around just in time to see the icy beam shoot towards the Trainer from Pallet. Misty and Pikachu's eyes grew wide upon seeing this. Ash was too bewildered by all of this to even react. The Cerulean Gym Leader tried to reach out to her friend and pull him out of the way, but the beam was too fast, and she was unable to reach him in time. The ice cold blast hit Ash square in the stomach, encasing his entire torso in a thick sheet of ice.

"Ash!"

"Pika pi!"

The trainer's body hit the ground, landing flat on his back. A look of shock crossed Swampert's face, realizing what he had just done. Zak on the other hand carried a crooked smile. This smirk quickly dissipated though when he saw the redhead and the Pikachu run to Ash's side after he didn't get up. "Oh no…" He watched on as Misty and Pikachu ran to the frozen trainer's side, seeing that he may have done more damage than he intended to.

Misty kneeled down next to her friend, frantically trying to keep him awake. "Ash!" She screamed, shaking his shoulders. "You have to stay awake!" She could see his eyes beginning to grow heavy, but Misty knew she couldn't allow him to fall asleep, even for a second. She then turned towards the Blonde trainer, and glared at him. "Why did you do that!?"

Zak could do nothing more than look on, speechless. After a moment of staring on aimlessly, he quickly returned Swampert to its Poké Ball, and dashed away, unable to face responsibility for what he had just done.

At this point, the redhead had turned all of her attention back to her frozen friend. "Ash! Are you okay!?"

Her brown eyed friend looked up at her, his teeth chattering. "I..I'm r…really c…c..cold." His voice was weary and weak. Misty and Pikachu felt their eyes water, realizing how critical his condition was.

"Pika pi!." The little rodent cried, running up to his master's face, licking him in a desperate attempt to keep him awake.

Thinking fast, Misty tried to rip off his jacket so his body wouldn't be covered in frozen clothing. However the ice encasing him was so thick that the jacket was literally stuck. The only way she could remove his frozen clothing was to thaw out the ice. Unfortunately, none of her Pokémon had the ability to do so, but Ash did. She began shuffling through the Poké Balls on his belt, finding the one she was looking for.

"Please, I'm begging you. Listen to me." She pleaded before tossing the Poké Ball, releasing the winged lizard that was Charizard. The fire type let out a roar upon his release, shooting a puff of smoke from his nostrils as he exhaled. "Charizard!" Misty yelled, trying to get the powerful Pokémon's attention. Though Charizard had no problem with Misty, he certainly wouldn't take orders from her.

Reluctant to leave Ash's side, she ran in front of the lizard, desperate to get him to listen. "Charizard! Listen to me!" The fire type looked down at the redhead, a serious look spread across his face. "Please, Ash needs your help!" She felt a tear run down her cheek. "Please listen to me!" Chairzard narrowed his eyes, allowing the gym leader to continue speaking. "Just look!" She pointed towards Ash's frozen body.

A worried expression filled his face upon seeing his master lying there with Pikachu desperately trying to keep him awake. Charizard quickly turned back to Misty and nodded, willing to do anything she said if it meant saving Ash.

"Alright," She let out a sigh of relief upon seeing he'd listen to her. "I need for you to breath a weak fire over him that's just hot enough to melt the ice, but won't burn him." It was more of a plea than a command.

The fire type heeded her words, turning to his master and leaning his giant head over Ash's frozen torso. The winged lizard opened his jaws, allowing for a small ember to radiate from his mouth, slowly melting away the thick ice that encased the trainer.

"Alright, stop." Misty waved her hand towards Charizard, the dragon-like Pokémon stopping without hesitation. The redhead ran up to her friend and ripped his freezing jacket off, followed by his black shirt, knowing that as long as those ice cold cloths stayed on him, his body would just grow colder and colder. Upon taking off his shirt, Misty, Charizard, and Pikachu came to the horrifying realization that a thick layer of ice covered his skin as well. "Oh no…."

"W…what's w..w…wrong M..M..Misty?" His voice was even weaker than before.

"Don't worry about it." She wiped away a series of tears from her eyes. "Everything is going to be fine." She wished she could believe her own words, but there was no way Charizard could thaw out the ice on his chest without severely burning him.

_What am I going to do?_

Another series of tears trickled down her face as she began to fear what would happen to her closest friend… No, he was more than just a friend to her.

"W…why are y..y..you c..crying M..Misty?" Ash's voice had grown so weak it sounded like consciousness was slipping away from him. Misty was too choked up on her own tears to answer. "I..I'm g..going to t..take a nap." His eyes began to close.

"No!" The gym leader cried, not allowing for him to leave her. "Just stay awake for a little longer!" She wept. "Pikachu!" She turned back to the yellow Pokémon. "Keep him awake!"

Pikachu nodded, and returned to licking his master's face, even zapping him with a very small surge of electricity every now and then, knowing it would help keep him awake.

Misty was frantic and scared. She knew there had to be something she could do to help, but she didn't know how. _Why can't we just be back playing in the hot springs in Scarlett Town? It was so much nicer there._ Her mind began to retreat back to that comfortable moment when it was her and Ash just having fun and reliving the happy days of their childhood.

"Wait!" Thinking back to that wonderful night gave her an idea. She reached for Ash's other Poké Balls, grabbing Pidgeot and Gible's, releasing them from their red and white orbs as quickly as she could.

"Gible!"

"Pidgeot!"

Both of them looked a bit dumbfounded to see that Misty was the one releasing them from their Poké Balls instead of Ash. "Gible, Pidgeot!" She cried out to them. "I need for you two to listen to me." Both of them seemed a bit hesitant for a moment, but fortunately they were easier to convince than Charizard was. "Look, there's no time to explain, but Ash is in trouble and I… He needs your help."

Both of the Pokémon looked over at their master and friend to see him lying there in a near catatonic state, both of their eyes widened upon seeing the sight.

"Gible," Misty called to the little land-shark, bringing his attention back to her. "I need for you to dig a hole about three feet deep, and is big enough to fit Ash in it." Without question, the Pokémon began gnawing away at the ground, digging a hole just like she asked. The gym leader then turned to large bird. "Pidgeot, I know you're tired, but Ash really needs your help." She felt another tear trickle down her face. "Please go find help! Bring them back here!" She had to fight the urge to choke on her tears while giving the Pokémon these orders.

The magnificent bird nodded, and took to the sky, vanishing as he flew off into the setting sun. Misty watched him fly away, hoping that he could find help soon. For now though, she had other things to worry about. She then reached for Starmie's Poké Ball, releasing her long time companion.

"Heya!"

"Starmie, when Gible finishes digging that hole over there, I need for you to fill it up with water." After Misty gave it its orders, the purple starfish turned to see the hole Gible was digging was almost complete, and made its way towards the hole, ready to fill it when he was done. Misty then turned back to Charizard, giving him a serious look. "Charizard, when I put Ash in the water, I need for you to heat it up _slowly_." She couldn't emphasize the last part enough. "If you heat it up too fast, it could really hurt him." The giant lizard gave her a nod, acknowledging her orders.

After this, Misty ran back to Ash's side, holding him as close as she could. "Don't worry Ash, everything is going to be okay. I promise." She looked over at the hole, seeing that Gible had finished digging the hole, and that Starmie was now filling it up with water.

Seeing this, she grabbed the trainer by his arms, and began dragging him towards the pseudo hot spring that the Pokémon were making. As she gently laid him into the water, Misty could see an expression of pain cross his face as the lukewarm water made contact with the icy patches that covered his skin.

"I know it hurts Ash, but it'll be okay." Misty said as reassuringly as she could, waving for Charizard to come over and warm the water. The fire type lowered his head near the water, and emitted a small flame that radiated heat into the water. At this point, all Misty had to do was keep her friend awake, and hopefully this would stabilize him until Pidgeot came back with help… She hoped.

XXXXXXXXXX

Night had overtaken Zerra, the only form of light being from the bright stars that sparkled in the sky, and the campfire Misty had made. The makeshift hot tub had melted away the remaining ice patches on Ash's body, and it seemed that his body temperature had started to regulate. After seeing this, Misty allowed for the weakened trainer to finally sleep as he laid in the pool of hot water, while she sat by his side.

"Everything's going to be okay,." She whispered, running her hand through his wet, black hair. "I promise." At this point Charizard had stopped regularly breathing fire over the pool, and was only doing so when Misty felt the water was growing too cold.

The redhead looked over at Ash's jacket and shirt that had been flung to the side. Seeing as how Ash wasn't in constant need of attention anymore, she decided to go pick up the now damp cloths and put them in Ash's backpack, as there was nothing else for her to do.

Misty picked up his black shirt, which was drenched in cold water, and folded it neatly before placing it in Ash's backpack. She then reached for his jacket, feeling all sorts of items poking through from inside of the jacket's many pockets. As she folded it, an item fell out of the inside pocket, landing on the rocky ground.

Had it not been for the campfire, she'd have never seen where the item landed. She put down the dark blue jacket, and picked up the small object that had fell from its pocket. The item was small, no bigger than her thumb. She held the object up to the fire, giving her a good view of what it was. Upon getting a good look at the trinket, she felt her heart skip a beat.

In her hand was the very same special lure that she had given the trainer almost three years ago. The gym leader felt a strange feeling bubble in her stomach, causing a warm smile to spread from ear to ear. The gym leader just expected that Ash had thrown the lure on his desk when he got to Pallet Town after his adventures in Hoenn, but here it was though, right there in her hands.

Misty clenched onto the special lure, feeling comfort in knowing that her gift meant so much to him that even three years later he still kept it around. After a deep sigh, she returned the lure back to the pocket from whence it had dropped from.

After folding the jacket and placing it in Ash's backpack, Misty looked over at her friend to see there was little more the tub could do for him. His body had stabilized for the most part, and there was nothing more she could do other than wait until help arrived. She let out another sigh, deciding that it might be best to pull him out of the pool.

The redhead laid out a blanket next to the small tub, and pulled the unconscious trainer onto it, cocooning him inside of the thick blanket. "I hope this keeps you warm until help gets here." She sighed, collapsing next to her friend, feeling as though she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.

Pikachu scurried up next to her, comforting her as he nuzzled his nose into her chest. "Pika." He whimpered.

"It'll be okay." Misty tried to sound reassuring. "Pidgeot will be here soon." She paused. "I know he will."

The mouse looked up at her, his eyes still filled with worry.

"Why don't we both go to sleep, Pikachu?" The redhead suggested as she scratched the little mouse behind the ears. "Us staying up all night worrying about him isn't going to make Ash any better." The little Pokémon nodded, and curled up next to her, closing his eyes.

The gym leader began to feel her eyes grow heavy as well. She didn't even have a blanket or a pillow or anything to sleep on, but she could still easily fall asleep right then and there. However Misty felt a little chill up her spine, a slight chill of loneliness. She looked over at Ash who was still cocooned in the blanket, and gazed at him for a moment.

"Why not?" She said to herself as she got up, holding Pikachu in one arm as she did so. Misty made her way towards Ash, and unwrapped the large blanket, allowing herself to lay next to the black haired trainer. Once her and Pikachu were in a comfortable position, she reached for the edge of the blanket, and pulled it over the three. "Don't worry Ash." She said, knowing he couldn't hear her. "I'm always here for you…. Always." Her eyes then began to grow heavy before she slowly started to drift off to sleep.

* * *

Will help arrive in time? Will Ash be saved? Will Zak quit being such a D-bag? All of these questions and more will be answered next time! (Well, maybe not the last question). So tune in next time, same Poké-time, same Poké-channel.

FYI, I'll try to post another chapter tonight, but there are no guarantees. Sorry for the delays.

Till then, see ya!


	18. It's A Date

__Alright guys, it's technically a day late, but I did my best. I just want to say, if you guys ever think I don't love you, you better think back to this night when I sat here for three hours revising this just so I could deliver a chapter to you before the night was over.

Anyways, this is a long chapter, I've got to call my girlfriend before the night is over, so this is going to be a short forward.

Enjoy!

* * *

_The four year old Misty snuggled up next to her father, sitting on his knee as he finished reading her favorite bedtime story. "Daddy," She spoke, barely able to keep her eyes open. "can you read me another story?" _

_Her father let out a chuckle, running his hand through her red hair. "Sorry sweety, but it's time for bed." _

"_But I don't wanna go to bed yet." She wrapped her tiny arms around her father's torso. "I want to stay here with you." _

"_Don't worry Misty, you'll see me in the morning." He replied as he stood up, holding the small girl in his arms. "I promise." _

_Misty's eyes slowly began to close as her father carried her up the stairs. She rested her head against his chest, his rhythmical heartbeat slowly putting her to sleep. Once sleep had over taken her, _reality awakened her.

The gym leader opened her eyes, looking around to see that her, Ash, and Pikachu were still snuggled up together under the big blanket she laid out for them. She could feel that the blanket was soaked since she didn't dry Ash off after pulling him out of the pool. She could have cared less though. She felt a sense of comfort being this close to him, this feeling was further reassured when she placed her hands on his chest to feel that his body heat had returned to normal.

"Pidgeot!" The redhead heard a caw coming from off in the distance. Misty leaned up, gazing off into the distance to see that Ash's Pidgeot had finally returned with help. Following the bird was an ambulance with an Officer Jenny on a motorcycle to escort the vehicle.

A joyous smile took form on Misty's face as she began to wave her arms in the air. "Over here!" She screamed, catching the attention of Officer Jenny. As the two vehicles approached the teens, Misty felt a warm feeling form inside of her. "Help is here, Ash." She said warmly to her unconscious friend.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ah!" Ash cried out as the doctor rubbed aloe vera over the frost burns on his chest. "That really stings." He gritted his teeth, trying to tough it out.

"I'd think so." The doctor replied, covering up the last bit of the wounds with the soothing jell. "That ice beam hit you square in the chest." Once the doctor finished rubbing the jell on Ash's torso, he made his way to the counter across the room and grabbed a roll of gauze. "You're really lucky, ya know?"

The trainer gave him a perplexed look. "I am?"

"Yeah," He replied plainly, unrolling the gauze and then cutting it with a pair of scissors. "If it wasn't for your girlfriend thinking as quickly as she did, you probably wouldn't be here right now."

"She's not my…" Ash stopped mid-sentence. "Never mind." He remained silent while the doctor wrapped the thick bandages around the red marks on his chest. The black haired trainer tried to recall what had happened the night before. All he could remember was Swampert blasting him with an ice beam, and then after that it was all a haze. He vaguely remembered seeing Misty leaning over him, and he remembered feeling hot water against his skin as well. Other than that, it was a blank. "So Doc," He finally spoke.

"Yeah?" He replied, fastening the gauze together with two pins.

"What did Misty do to save me?"

The doctor let out a chuckle. "Quite a bit, actually." He finished his bandaging. "First, she used your Charizad to thaw you out, then she had your Gible dig a hole for you, filled it up with water using her Starmie, and had your Charizard keep it warm for you." He answered, putting his hands in his pockets. "I must say, she's a very smart girl."

Ash felt a smile cross his face upon hearing this. "Wow," He almost had trouble believing that she did all of this just for him. "I owe her big time."

"You sure do." The doctor nodded. "Would you like to go see her?"

"You bet!" He didn't have to ask twice.

"Alright." the doctor turned around and grabbed Ash's recently dry-cleaned jacket, shirt, and even his hat, and tossed it to the trainer. "Just follow me."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Don't worry Mrs. Ketchum." Misty said with a warm smile, speaking to Ash's mother over the video phone. "The doctors said he'd be good as new after they patched him up."

"Pika pikachu." The yellow mouse happily added, hopping down from the redhead's shoulder.

"Well that's good to hear." Delia replied, worry still apparent in her voice. "I'm just glad you were there to take care of my little Ashy."

Misty giggled upon hearing Delia's nickname for her son. "Well you don't have to worry. As long as I'm here, Ash doesn't have too much to worry about."

"I know." Delia replied warmly. "That's why I'm so happy that you're with him." She paused. "So how are you and Ash getting along?"

The redhead started to blush, wondering how she should answer the question. After Delia took one good look at the blushing girl though, she needn't say anything.

"Ahhh." Delia could read through the girl's expression. "You two are together now, aren't you?"

Misty's eyes quickly widened. "No!" She exclaimed. "It's nothing like that at a-"

"You don't need to explain anything." Delia cut her off, but reassured the teen with a smile. "Now go tell Ash I said I hope he feels better soon."

"O..of course." She stuttered, still a bit embarrassed.

"Goodbye Misty." Delia said warmly.

"Bye." The gym leader replied, giving Ash's mother an awkward smile as she hung up the phone. Once the screen went black, Misty leaned back in the chair and let out a sigh. As she did this, she heard the door across the lobby open. The redhead turned her attention to it to see Ash and his doctor entering the room. "Ash!" She shot up, joyous to see that he was back on his feet.

"Pika pi!" His loyal companion cried out, ecstatic to see his master again.

"Misty!" The trainer from Pallet dashed towards his friend, feeling little to no pain as he did so.

Once the two teens met up with one another, they embraced each other with a tight hug. Ash felt overjoyed to see his savior, and Misty was blissful to see her best friend in good condition.

"Ash, don't you _ever_ come that close to dying again!" The redhead's voice was stern, but playfully so.

The trainer let out a chuckle. "Well as long as you're around to take care of me, I don't think I'll have to worry about that happening."

Misty pulled herself back a bit, keeping her arms wrapped around the trainer. "The doctors told you about what happened?" She was a bit surprised that Ash seemed to know about what she had done for him.

"Yeah!" He exclaimed. "The doc told me all about how you used Charizard to thaw me out, and that you made a hot tub so I wouldn't freeze." He felt a warm feeling inside as he said this to his friend. "Thank you so much, Misty."

The Cerulean Gym Leader couldn't help but blush. "Well I had to think fast." She giggled. "I guess it also got us to Ebonyville a bit faster."

Ash's eyes widened, letting go of Misty. "You mean we're in Ebonyville?!"

"Yeah." Misty nodded, seeing where he was going with this.

"That means I can…"

"Get your next gym badge?" Misty cut him off, already knowing what he was going to say.

The black haired trainer gave her a slightly perplexed look. "Well, yeah that too." He paused. "But I wasn't talking about that."

The redhead gave him an equally confused expression. "You weren't?"

"No," He replied plainly. "I was going to say now I can take you on that date." He kept his confused look. "Why would you think I'd want to get my gym badge first?"

Misty's eyes began to bubble. "Aww! Ash!" She took him in for another hug. "That's so sweet!"

The trainer looked a bit taken back by her reaction. "You still didn't answer my question." He spoke as she tightened her grip around him. "Why did you think I wanted to go to the gym first?"

Misty let out a sigh. "You're cute when you're dense."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"

The redhead giggled, yet didn't answer his question.

XXXXXXXXXX

The two teens and their Pikachu traversed through the relatively quite town of Ebonyville. It was one of those few places that was just too big to be a town, but just too small to be a city. Many of the buildings stood around two to three stories tall, but at the same time it was quite common to see trees, bushes, and other shrubbery between the structures.

"So what did you have in mind for our date?" Misty asked the black haired trainer as they made their way along the sidewalk.

Ash started to rub his chin, trying to think about what there was to do. Unfortunately, he didn't know a thing about this town other than there was a gym here. That's when an idea surfaced in his mind. "I know!"

"Mind telling me?" Misty was quite eager to hear his idea.

"Let's spend the day just looking around the town, and just do whatever looks fun!" He exclaimed, turning to his redheaded date.

She rolled her eyes. "That's what we're doing already."

Ash frowned upon hearing this. However, he wasn't able to dwell on this long, since something at the corner of his eye caught his attention. He looked across the street to see a building with a sign over it that featured a Kadabra in a black robe, as well as a Ampharos in a dress. Below this image, there was a sign that spelled out "Poké-Theater".

"That might be fun." The trainer pointed across the street, towards the theater.

"It might be worth checking out, I guess." Misty shrugged.

"Well let's go!" The black haired trainer took off, about to run across the street towards the building.

"Ash, wait!" Misty screeched, bringing him to a halt as a car zoomed by, just barely missing him. The redhead walked up behind the trainer, and smacked him on the back of the head. "Moron! You almost got yourself killed!"

"Uh… Sorry." He felt a bit stupid for not looking both ways before crossing the street.

"You better be." She growled. "I didn't save your life just to have you run out in front of a car the day you get out of the hospital." She then took Ash by the arm, and looked both ways before guiding him across the street, the same way a mother would guide her child.

The two walked up to the ticket booth, and purchased their tickets, using Ash's vast supply of wealth on his Pokédex to pay for them. The teens entered the building, gazing at the beautifully maintained interior of the structure. The carpet was a bright red, and the white walls were covered in posters of upcoming shows the theater would be holding.

"This place sure is nice." Misty had to admit, pleasantly surprised by this.

"Pikachu." The electric Pokémon added.

"See," Ash chuckled. "I can spot out fun places to go."

Misty let out a huff. "Don't get too full of yourself, we haven't even seen the show yet."

Ash rolled his eyes, and made his way into the theater with Pikachu sitting atop his shoulder; the gym leader following closely behind them.

The theater itself was dimly lit, with the only form of light coming from the lights that hung over the stage. Though the show was supposed to start in a matter of minutes, the theater didn't seem to be too crowded, with even a few seats available in the front row. Ash and Misty took this opportunity to sit as close as they could to the stage, making sure they'd get the full experience the show had to offer.

XXXXXXXXXX

Just outside of the quite, traditional Sinnohan township of Celestic Town, sat a mansion atop of a large hill. The villa was secluded away from the rest of civilization, blocked off by a thick forest and a large gate surrounding the parameter of the building.

Inside of the mansion, Cynthia sat on a couch in her living room, holding her cell phone up to her ear. She had just gotten a message from her fellow champion, Steven Stone, telling her to call as soon as possible. The Sinnoh Champion was set to do an interview with a local radio station, but had to delay it due the unexpected call that needed to be made.

"Hello?" Steven finally answered.

"I got your message, what do you need?" Cynthia replied, leaning back on the couch.

"I'm glad you finally called." Steven's tone sounded quite urgent. "Lance called, he just received Intel that Team Rocket has started to move a majority of its forces out of Kanto, and are heading east."

Cynthia raised an eyebrow. "Do you think they're coming to Sinnoh?"

"No." He replied plainly. "Lance thinks they're heading somewhere south."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, my guess is it has something to do with that stone from Chester Town."

"Yeah," Cynthia stood up from her couch, and made her way towards the window overlooking the beautiful, rural, Sinnohan forest. "Has Lance found out what's so important about that stone yet?"

"Nothing more than we already know." The Hoenn Champion sighed.

"That it's somehow associated with a potentially legendary Pokémon?"

"Yeah."

The Sinnoh Champion took a deep breath, trying to recall her knowledge of any legendary Pokémon that were said to reside south of Sinnoh. Nothing came to mind though. "What Pokémon could Team Rocket could possibly want to travel that far out of their way to get?"

"Ho-oh, maybe?" Stone suggested. "He's always traveling around the world."

Cynthia shook her head. "I doubt it." She pressed her hand against the window, and leaned herself against it. "There have only been a little under a hundred reported sightings of Ho-oh in the past fifty years," She paused. "and most of those turned out to be hoaxes."

"Maybe the stone could help Team Rocket find him?"

"Even if they could find Ho-oh, they'd never be able to capture him, much less control him." After saying this, the champion could hear a rustling on the other end of the phone before Steven replied.

"Well I can't think of anything else."

Cynthia remained silent as she looked up to the sky. The clouds were quite puffy, and the sky itself glowed a deep Sinnoh blue. The champion found herself deep in thought as she looked up at the beautiful sky. There was only one Pokémon that came to mind for her, one who's existence was believed to be nothing more than a fairy tale. Though she couldn't say that she had seen the Pokémon in person, she could without a shadow of a doubt confirm that it did indeed exist, or at least it did at one point. "There is one possibility." She spoke into the phone.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash, Misty and Pikachu applauded as the curtains rolled down. It was quite a cute show, and was certainly a fun experience. The two teens got up from their seats, while Pikachu hopped onto his master's shoulder.

"That was a lot of fun!" Misty said to her black haired date.

"Sure was." He replied with a smile. "What do ya wanna do next?"

The redhead placed her index finger on her chin, thinking about what other fun things there could possibly be to do in this town. "I don't know." She answered, shuffling through her mind for any ideas. However, her process of thinking was interrupted as an elderly man approached the them.

"Excuse me." He spoke. The two teens turned to him, to see a sharply dressed man who looked to be somewhere in his early seventies. "Me and my wife couldn't help but notice that you look a lot like that Ash Ketchum boy." He approached the trainer from Pallet. "Are you him?"

"Uh, yes sir." He seemed the slightest bit puzzled by the elderly man's interest in him.

The old man formed a delighted expression upon hearing this. "Well, my name is Professor Bentley." The old man shook Ash's hand, his grip a bit weak due to his age. "I'm the head of all Zerran Pokémon researchers.

The trainer's eyes widened. "It's good to meet you, professor." Ash was quite happy to finally get to meet one of Zerra's Pokémon professors. "So what can I do for you?"

"Well," He started, releasing Ash from the handshake. "Me and my wife are having a charity ball tonight to help raise money to start an official Zerra Pokémon League." He smiled. "It would be so wonderful if such a great trainer such as yourself showed up."

Ash couldn't help but smile at this, happy to hear that someone was finally giving him the recognition he deserved. "I'd love to go!" He replied happily. After saying this he heard his date cleared her throat. "Er… I mean _we'd_ love to go." He nodded his head towards Misty.

Bentley looked over at the redhead, and cracked a smile. "Well this is even better." He said. "Ash Ketchum of the Sinnoh Top Four, _and_ Misty Waterflower, the Gym Leader of Cerulean City as his date."

The gym leader's eyes winded. "You know who I am?"

"Of course I know how you are, dear." The old man replied. "It's hard not know who the best gym leader in Kanto is."

Misty began to blush. "Well, I'm not one to boast, but I do have a bit of a reputation among the gym leaders back in Kanto."

"Gee," Ash mumbled. "and she says I have a big head." It was all said in good humor.

"What's that supposed to mean, lover boy?" She growled. Despite the ferocity in her tone, it was just as playful.

Professor Bentley began to chuckle. "Well I'm glad to hear that you'll go." He looked over at Ash. "But I must tell you it is a formal event, so if you two could wear something nice."

The trainer bit down on his lip. "Well, that might be a proble-"

Misty elbowed him in the side, silencing him. "That won't be a problem at all!" She replied for Ash, speaking in a cheery tone.

"Great!" Bentley said. "Just be at the Ebonyville Pokémon Laboratory around six."

Misty nodded; Ash was still rubbing his side from when she elbowed him. "We'll be there." the redhead spoke.

"Good," the old professor replied. "I'll see you there!" He then walked up the stairs and took hold of his wife's arm before the elderly couple started to make their way out of the theater.

"Misty?" Ash finally spoke. "We don't have any nice cloths with us."

"You don't." The gym leader replied. "I can just wear my dress from Sunnyport."

"Well what am I supposed to do?" He asked. "Just go like this?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, you moron." She replied, giving him a playful smack on the back of the head. "We'll just go out and buy you a nice tux." The redhead added with a smile. "I bet you'd look great in one."

"Uh… Tux's aren't really my thi-"

"You're getting a tux!" She growled.

"Okay!" Ash gulped sheepishly, not daring to question Misty's authority.

XXXXXXXXXX

Lance began to pace back and forth in the foyer of his mansion. Out of all of the champions in the league, his mansion was certainly the most extravagant. Being a dual champion of both the Kanto and Johto regions, he had quite a larger income, allowing for him to afford much nicer things; such as the Dragonair statues, and the large Kingdra fountain that sat between the dual staircase in the foyer of his mansion.

All day the Kanto Champion had been receiving messages regarding Team Rocket transferring their forces out of Kanto, and ceasing all major activity in the Kanto and Johto regions. At first glance this may have seemed to be a good thing, but after dedicating years of his life to bringing an end to Team Rocket, Lance was smart enough to know that there was something more to this than meets the eye.

His cell phone began to vibrate, causing the red haired champion to quickly pick it up and answer. He had been expecting this call for almost an hour now, as it was of the utmost importance that it be made.

"Mr. President?" Lance answered, expecting the call from Mr. Goodshow.

"My secretary said that you had something important you needed to talk to me about?" The President seemed the slightest bit tired, probably from a long day of managing the upcoming Master League Championship which was less than three months away.

"Yeah," The champion replied. "I just received word from multiple informants in Team Rocket that they are moving over half of their forces out of Kanto, and into the southeastern regions."

"What about their operations in Kanto and Johto?"

"All major operations are being ceased."

"Do you think Team Rocket is moving out of Kanto and Johto entirely?" The President's tone began to become almost hopeful.

"Not a chance." Lance said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Giovanni hasn't left Team Rocket HQ, and most of the grunts still in Kanto and Johto have been told to remain at their posts." Lance took a seat on the edge of the Kingdra fountain.

"Well what do you think they're up to then?"

"Me, Steven, and Cynthia have all come to the agreement that they're trying to pursue a legendary Pokémon." Lance sighed.

Though he couldn't see Mr. Goodshow, he imagined that his eyes grew wide at this news. "W..what legendary Pokémon do you think they're trying to capture?" He began to feel a tint of worry. Team Rocket had utilized the powers of a legendary Pokémon with Mewtwo, but never had they gone out of their way to obtain one before.

"We don't know." The champion grumbled. "Regardless of what it is though, we can't let them capture it."

There was a pause on the other line. "Are you suggesting that you go into neighboring regions to stop Team Rocket?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation in his voice.

Goodshow let out a deep sigh, followed by a grunt. "You know that the Pokémon G-Men don't have jurisdiction outside of the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh regions, correct?"

"I do."

"You are also are widely aware that if the Pokémon G-Men are seen taking action outside of its jurisdiction, then that puts the entire Pokémon League in jeopardy, correct?"

"I am, Mr. President."

Goodshow made another sigh, left in a bit of a dilemma. "I can't allow you to do that." He sounded reluctant in his decision.

"But Mr. President-!"

"I'm sorry Lance," Mr. Goodshow cut the champion off. "but there is no solid evidence that they are trying to capture a legendary Pokémon. Unless you can provide me with such evidence, I can't allow for you three to violate jurisdiction by going on a wild goose chase like this."

"But…"

"I'm sorry Lance, but until there is some form of evidence you can provide me with, I can't allow for you to do this."

Lance began to growl. "I understand," He paused. "Mr. President."

"Goodbye, Lance." Goodshow still sounded as though he regretted his decision.

"Yeah." With that Lance hit the "end call" button. The Kanto Champion clenched his phone, even coming close to flinging the device across the foyer. However he stopped himself since he knew that either Steven or Cynthia would be calling him soon.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Daisy replied over the phone, trying to take in everything that Misty had just told her. "So now you and Ash are like, together?"

"Well, yeah." The redhead answered, laying down on the bed she rented out from the Pokémon Center, holding her cell phone next to her ear. "Did you not hear the part where I said we were going on a date tonight?"

Her eldest sister let out a squeal, causing Misty to pull the phone away from her ear and cringe as the high pitched noise rang through her eardrums. "I'm like, _so_ happy for you, sis!"

The gym leader was a bit taken back by how happy she seemed to be for her. Normally Daisy would heckle and tease her whenever Ash came up in conversation. This time however, Daisy hadn't once tried to give her sister a hard time about it.

"So, like, what is it you guys are doing?" Daisy was quite eager to hear the details.

"Well," She leaned up from the bed, and sat on the edge of the mattress. "we're supposed to be going to a charity ball in a few hours."

There was another squeal. "A ball!?" Her sister shrieked. "Just wait until Lily and Violet hear about this!"

Misty rolled her eyes. "You sound more excited about it than I am."

"Don't you realize like, how big of a deal this is?!"

"It's only our first date." The redhead was trying to make it sound like it wasn't a big deal, but deep down she was squealing just like her sister. She wasn't going to let Daisy know that though.

"It is like, _way _more than a first date, Mist." Her sister replied. "You traveled with him for like, two years, and you've been with him for the past seven months, _and_ you've kissed already. So this should count as like, your fifth or sixth date."

Misty couldn't help but giggle at the comment. "Whatever you say Daisy." She looked over at the clock and saw she had about three hours to get ready. "Well, I've got to go."

"Okay sis." Daisy's tone was still filled with excitement. "Call me when you get back! I want to hear like, how it goes!"

"Sure will." Misty's tone was quite blissful. "Talk to you later Daisy."

"Bye little sis!"

Misty ended the call, feeling a smile cross her face. She stood up from her bed, and pulled out her red dress that she had kept neatly folded in her backpack. Unfortunately there wasn't an iron or anything like that around, so there was no way for her to get the creases out, but it'd have to do.

As the gym leader laid the shinning red dress across the bed, all the possibilities of what could happen began to flow freely through her mind. Would they dance? Would they hold hands? Would they kiss again? Misty certainly hoped so, though her expectations weren't that high; it was Ash after all.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Uh, Pikachu?" The trainer from Pallet uttered as he fumbled with the black tie that went with his tux. "Do you know how to put these things on?"

"Pika pikachu?" His little friend tilted his head to the side, giving him a slightly puzzled look.

"Of course you don't." He grumbled. "Sorry, Pikachu" Ash apologized for appearing so irritable. "I'm just _really_ nervous." He said as he turned away from the Pokémon, and looked in the mirror to see himself in this brand new black and white tuxedo. "I hope I don't look like an idiot out there tonight." He let out a sigh before turning back to Pikachu. "So how do I look Pikac-" He stopped speaking when he saw the yellow mouse had curled into a ball on the bed and began napping. Letting out a sigh, Ash could hear a knock at his door.

"Ash, are you ready?" It was Misty.

The trainer's eyes widened, realizing that he still hadn't figured out how to put on the tie. He could just ask Misty to do it for him, but he felt that would just make him look like an idiot. _I'll just not wear it._ He tossed the tie onto the nightstand. _She won't notice._

Ash unlocked the cheap lock, and opened the door stumbling back slightly when he saw Misty. She was wearing the same dress that she had worn at the Vaporion Lounge, as well as the same high heels. Her shimmering red hair flowed elegantly behind her, while her brilliant green eyes were highlighted by her eye shadow.

"H..hi Misty." The trainer answered in a gushy voice.

The redhead began to smile, a little blush spreading across her cheeks. She looked over her date, taking mental note of how good he looked in the tux she picked out for him earlier that day. However, she instantly spotted that something was missing. "Where's your tie?"

Ash was quickly pulled back into reality, and he started to bite down on his lip. "Uh… yeah, my tie!" He tried to play it cool. "Thanks for reminding me Misty!" He chuckled, turning towards the nightstand he threw it onto just seconds ago. "I knew I was forgetting something." He let out a fake laugh, trying to pass it off as genuine.

"Okay." Misty replied. "Just put it on and we'll head over to the lab."

Ash gulped as she said this. "Yeah, sure." He picked up the tie and began to fumble with it. He made an attempt to put the tie on, but was completely unsuccessful in doing so. It didn't take very long for Misty to see the trainer from Pallet didn't have a clue as to what he was doing.

"Come here." She said, giggling under her breath.

Ash walked over to his beautiful date, looking down at the ground as he did so, too embarrassed to look her in the eyes.

The redhead took hold of the tie, and began running her hands around Ash's neck, helping him put on the piece of fabric. Ash tried to watch closely and remember how she did it so he wouldn't have to ask her to do it again in the future, but he was completely lost halfway through. _Why would they make it so hard to put these things on?_

"There you go." Misty said in a somewhat cheerful tone, pulling her hands away from him.

Ash tried to smile, but he felt too embarrassed to do so. "Pikachu, are you coming?" He turned to the snoozing Pokémon, seeing the rodent's ears perk up.

"Pika." He quickly uncurled himself, and leapt towards his master, landing atop his groomed head, causing Ash's hair to revert back to being messy and unkempt.

"Thanks a lot Pikachu." He sighed.

"Pika pi." The electric mouse said in a cheerful tone.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Oh wow, this must be the laboratory." Misty said in aw as she gazed at the large mansion that towered over her and Ash.

The building looked more like a celebrities' house than a Pokémon Laboratory. From the outside they could tell that the house was divided into a east and west wing, with a large domelike center that separated the two wings.

"When Professor Bentley said a Pokémon Laboratory, I didn't expect this." Ash was in just as much wonderment as his date.

The front yard was packed with vehicles of all kinds. Sports cars, trucks, sedans, and even a few news vans. Judging by this, the party had probably already started. The two teens made their way to the giant house, to be greeted by a tall, bulky man standing at the door, holding a clipboard.

"May I ask who you two are?" He looked down at them, towering over the trainers.

"Uh, I'm Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town."

"And I'm Misty Waterflower of Cerulean City."

"Pika pikachu." The yellow mouse felt he should respond as well.

The doorman looked down at his clipboard, scanning over the names. "Here you are." He said, pointing to the two names at the bottom of the clipboard. "You can go in." He said as he opened the door for the two. "Just keep that Pikachu under control."

The little mouse narrowed his eyes, feeling a bit offended that the bulky man would think he'd try to cause trouble.

The inside of the mansion was quite impressive. The dome shaped center of the house was brightly lit due to the skylight above them, as well as the many chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The foyer was quite crowded, it looked like there were at least fifty or sixty people in this room alone. Despite the crowd, Professor Bentley had no trouble spotting out the two trainers the second they entered, mainly because of the Pikachu sitting on Ash's shoulder.

"Hello there!" The old man shouted across the room, slowly making his way towards the couple.

"Hey Professor Bentley." The black haired trainer greeted the scientist. "Thanks for inviting us."

The old man made a cheery smile. "Oh, I should be thanking you for coming!" He was quite pleased to see them there. "You two being here to show your support for starting a Zerra League is more than I could ever ask for."

"Mind me asking," Misty uttered. "but could you please explain more about there not being an official Pokémon League in Zerra?"

"Well," the professor started. "Zerra does have its own league, but it's much like the one in Unova."

"So it's not official reorganized by the Pokémon League?" Misty understood what he meant by this.

"Exactly." The researcher gave her a nod, happy to see that she was more than just a pretty face. "However, unlike Unova, Zerra is under the jurisdiction of the Pokémon League, which makes it completely absurd that it is not recognized as such."

"Well why would they do that?" Ash felt the slightest bit perplexed by all of this.

Misty answered for the Professor. "It involves a lot of money and stocks." She looked over at her date. "Nothing you'd understand."

"Hey!" He snapped. "What makes you say that?"

The gym leader rolled her eyes. "If you really want to know all about it, I'll tell you later." She took her date by the hand. "But I'd much rather dance right now." The redhead gave him a wink before she pulled him towards the center of the room, where many of the attendees were dancing to an elegant orchestral piece. As she pulled him towards the dance floor, Pikachu hopped off of his master's shoulder, and scurried away to chow down on some of the food on a nearby table.

Ash tried to think back to the dance at Evergreen Planes, remembering where his hands were supposed to go. He placed his right hand around her waist, and put his left hand into Misty's right. _Alright, now just swing with the beat._ The two began to slowly prance around the dance floor, Ash was quite proud of himself for remembering the lesson Misty had taught him at the beginning of their journey.

"Not bad, Ash." His date complimented. "I thought I'd have to show you how to dance again."

The trainer chuckled under his breath. "I don't think you're giving me enough credit."

"Apparently not." The redhead giggled, looking into Ash's dark brown eyes.

The two remained silent for a bit as they danced, allowing for the soft, beautiful music to overtake their ears. They flowed across the dance floor, feeling as though they were the only ones in the entire dancehall. After savoring in the moment for a bit, Misty decided to spark the conversation back up.

"So Ash," She spoke. "you're in a fancy ball, dancing with the Cerulean City Gym Leader, one of the most respected gym leaders in all of Kanto. What is going through your mind?" She asked in a joking manner.

Ash let out a chuckle. "Do you really want to know?"

"I'd love to know."

"Right now, I'm wondering how you managed to convince me to wear this stupid tux." He answered with a laugh.

The Cerulean City Gym Leader rolled her eyes. "Why did I expect for you to say something like that?" She asked as she rested her head on his left shoulder.

"Maybe because you know me really well." He looked down at her, feeling a warmness in his stomach as she rested her head on him.

"Probably." Misty replied.

"So, I've got a question for _you_." Ash said with a smile.

"Ask away."

"You're in a fancy ball, dancing with the Top Sixteen competitor of the Indigo Conference, Top Eight of the Silver and Ever Grande Conference, and the Top Four of the Lily of the Valley Conference. What is going through your mind?" He asked in the same joking manner as Misty did.

The redhead looked up to him, lifting her head off of his shoulder. "I'm wondering why I'm not dancing with Tobias instead."

A scowl crossed the trainers face. "Hey." He didn't exclaim this, but it was quite easy to tell he was irked by the statement.

"Oh, relax. I'm joking." Misty replied, laying her head back down on his shoulder. She paused for a second, allowing for herself to soak in the moment. "This is nice."

"It really is."

However, their little dance was interrupted as the music came to an end. All of the dancers began to disperse from the dance floor, leaving only the two teens standing there.

"Well, that was fun." Misty pulled herself up from Ash's shoulder once again, this time releasing herself from her date.

"It sure was." The trainer sounded quite enthusiastic in his words.

His beautiful date looked off towards the big glass doors that led to the garden in the backyard. There didn't seem to be anyone out there, and she was feeling like some time alone with Ash would be nice. "How about we step outside?" She suggested, motioning towards the glass doors.

Ash nodded, not the least bit objective of the idea. "Sounds good to me."

Misty took him by the hand, and the two made their way outside, into the beautiful garden. The sun had already set, so it was a bit hard to see past the lights that emitted from inside the house. However, the light did travel just far enough to light up the back patio, including the stone bench the two took sat on.

Ash and Misty gazed upon the garden before them. Rose bushes filled the majority of the garden, as well as violets. There were many other flowers and plants as well, though the black haired trainer hadn't the slightest clue as to what they were called. Near their feet, was a bush of little white flowers that the trainer couldn't help but notice.

"What are those?" He asked the redhead, pointing towards the flowers.

Misty reached down and plucked a small branch from the bush, holding about four or five of the white flowers. She took a close look at them, using the light illuminating from behind her to see them. "Kasumisou." She answered. "Or baby's breath; whichever you want to call it." She looked over at Ash and smiled, handing him the flowers.

"That's a pretty name." He replied, taking the little branch of flowers in hand. After examining the simple little flowers, he gently placed the branch next to him on the bench. "So Misty," He started, leaning back and looking up into the night sky. "What are you going to do after all this is over?" He paused for a moment. "Ya know, once the Master League is over?"

The gym leader looked down at the soft, grassy ground, realizing that their journey was indeed coming to an end soon. It was amazing how quickly four months had already gone by, leaving them with only a little under three months before the championship started. "Well…" She paused to let out a sigh. "I guess I'll go back to Cerulean City."

Ash began to frown, they had been having such a great time together. Now they were even trying to achieve something more than friendship. Yet, it may have been proving to be a bad idea in hindsight. Misty still lived almost a hundred miles from Pallet Town, and she had responsibilities of her own to attend to in Cerulean City.

"What about you, Ash?" His date turned to him, carrying the same frown that he did.

"Well, if I win I'm going to challenge one of the Champions for the title." He wasn't the least bit hesitant in his response.

"I figured you wouldn't take the money." Misty let out a chuckle, trying to ease the tension of the mood.

Ash began to smile. "If I don't win though…" His frown returned. "I guess I'll just go to Unova."

Misty placed her warm hand on his arm, slightly gripping onto him. "You know I can't go with you to Unova, right?"

"I know." The trainer exhaled, pausing briefly. "That's a long ways away though." He tried to sound more enthusiastic, giving himself a painted on smile in hopes that it would ease the mood.

"Yeah," Misty allowed herself to crack a faint grin. "we still have three months together before we have to worry about that." After staring into Ash's eyes briefly, she turned up to the starlit sky. "What's that?" She squinted her eyes, leaning her head forward, seemingly trying to figure out what it was she saw in the sky.

"I don't see anything." Ash looked directly upward, seeing nothing but a blanket of night with stars sprinkling atop of it. The trainer then felt a warmness on his face as Misty's lips pecked his cheek while he wasn't looking. Ash quickly turned to his date, a smile spread from ear to ear.

Misty folded her hands together, laying them in her lap. She tilted her head down slightly, unable to look Ash directly in the eyes as her already apparent blush would have probably turned a bright shade of crimson had she made eye contact with him. She then felt a warmness on her forehead as Ash gave her a little kiss, returning the favor.

* * *

Daww, wasn't that just sweet.

So anyways, yeah, more revealed about Team Rocket. What are they going after? You're just going to have to wait and find out.

Alright, guys, I've got to go. I can guarantee a chapter tomorrow since it's all done, and HOPEFULLY a chapter the day after that.

Till then See ya!


	19. Dark as Ebony

Well, here we are with another update. The next chapter is almost done, and should be completed by the end of the night. However, I probably will not be able to post it tomorrow since I have somewhere I have to be around 5:00, and they end somewhere around ?. So with that said, there is a SMALL chance it'll be posted tomorrow, but more than likely you'll just have to wait till Saturday. Sorry guys.

Also, after the next chapter gets posted, I might not be posting anymore chapters for a few days. I really do love entertaining you guys with my stories, but it's just literally taking up all of my time to write these, revise them, revise them again, and then post them, while maintaining a daily deadline. It's just so draining. I'll try my best to update as quickly as possible, but they probably won't be daily anymore (though there may be a few exceptions from time to time)

Anyways, sit back, relax, and enjoy!

* * *

Sunrise had peaked over Ebonyville, yet oddly enough, Ash was already awake. After the ball, Professor Bentley was kind enough to let his two "celebrity" guests stay in the guest rooms of his very luxurious mansion, even being so kind as to send his butler to retrieve their things from the Pokémon Center the two were going to stay at. The black haired trainer looked out the window of the guest bedroom, watching the sun's rays glow brighter as the ball of light rose over the trees.

The conversation he and Misty had out in the garden the night before left him restless and unable to get a full night's sleep. Ash truly wondered if this relationship with the Cerulean Gym Leader was a good idea. Yes, he was more than happy to be with her, overjoyed really. But, how could they make it work after the Master League was done and over with?

Misty had made it pretty clear that she'd never be able to travel with him all the way to the Unova region, and even if he did win the Master League, the redhead would still go back to Cerulean City after words. Ash had enough trouble with maintaining a long-distance friendship with her over the years; the idea of maintaining a long-distance relationship seemed unfeasible.

_But with that prize money…._ Ash recalled back to the prize money Mr. Goodshow said would be presented to the winner of the Master League if they turned down the opportunity to challenge any of the three champions. With five million dollars Ash could easily buy out the Cerulean City Gym, allowing for Misty's sisters to keep their water ballet, while at the same time they wouldn't have to constantly win battles against trainers to keep their home. So without Misty having to attend to the gym, she could travel with him all she wanted.

The trainer from Pallet was quite tempted by the choice he was presented with. Misty and her sisters would be more than happy to be unchained from the Cerulean Gym. On more than one occasion Misty had told him about how much she wanted to move away from doing gym battles, but she loved her home too much to allow herself to quit. Besides that, if Ash accepted the money, he could just compete in the Pokémon League next year and have a chance to win the championship then.

"Up early, are you?" The old man's voice traveled from the door, entering Ash's ears and pulling him out of his train of thought.

"Uh, yeah." He replied, turning to the professor. "I just had a bit of trouble sleeping, that's all."

"Well since you're awake, why don't you come with me and help feed the Pokémon?" He offered.

"Sure, why not?" Ash let a grin cross his face, thinking back to the times he'd help Professor Oak with taking care of the Pokémon at the Pallet Town Laboratory during his downtime between adventures.

Professor Bentley led Ash out of the guest bedroom, and down the hall. The lights were still off, only allowing for the rays of sunlight to brighten the dim corridors. "So, are you going to challenge the Ebonyville Gym Leader today?" He asked the trainer, leading him down the dual staircase to the foyer.

"Yeah," He replied. "I was going to head over there after Misty and Pikachu woke up."

"Good luck, you're probably going to need it." Bentley said with a slight chuckle.

Ash was a bit irked by the Professor seemingly lacking faith in the trainer. He decided to brush off the comment though. "Have there been any other trainers in the Master League that have come through here yet?"

"Oh yes, quite a few." the professor began to make his way to the glass door in the back, leading to the garden. "Paul, Tobias, and Damian have already come through and gotten their badge." He paused as he opened the door. Ash began to clench his fist upon hearing his rival was already a step ahead of him. "There was also a boy named Zak who came through." The professor continued. Now the trainer just felt a burning rage form inside him. "But apparently he's wanted for assaulting another trainer with his Swampert."

Ash let out a huff, happy to hear that the strong arm of justice was coming after him. "I guess that means he's out of the League." He snickered.

"Oh, most certainly." The professor replied, opening a gate at the end of the garden, leading to a large field filled with barns, pens of Pokémon, as well as a few small ponds which a large number of water Pokémon resided in. "He'll probably be banned from ever being allowed to compete in any Pokémon League event."

"Good."

Bentley turned to the trainer, and gave him a serious look. "I know what happened Ash, and it was wrong of him to do what he did. However, if you dwell on it, it could do some terrible things to you."

"He tried to freeze me!" It was a gut reaction.

"I know, and I'm not saying you shouldn't be upset about it. I'm just saying that the longer you hang onto a grudge, the more it destroys you as a person."

"Okay, whatever." Ash grumbled. "Let's just feed the Pokémon, okay?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Misty sat down with Pikachu and Eevee in a big, comfy chair in the foyer, sipping on some coffee Bentley's butler provided her with. Pikachu was resting on her shoulder, while the little fox-like Pokémon curled up into a ball and laid in her lap.

The new addition to her team was getting along quite well. Misty had started training the Pokémon on her downtime, even managing to teach her a few moves over the past few days. While her and Ash were still at Sunnyport, the redhead taught the little pup how to use tackle, as well as bite. The latter of which proved to be much to the disdain of Ash.

As she petted the little fox, Misty couldn't help but fantasize about how amazing the Pokémon would be once she gave Eevee a water stone and evolved her into a Vaporion. "One day you're going to be big and strong, Eevee." She said in a sweet tone, the same tone she used to speak to Togepi with.

"Hey Misty." Ash's voice traveled across the foyer as he opened the glass door.

"Oh, hey Ash." She turned to her friend as Pikachu began to scurry towards his master. "Are you ready for your gym battle?"

Ash waited for the yellow rodent to climb up to his shoulder before giving the redhead a thumbs up, signifying his readiness.

XXXXXXXXXX

The two approached the large, circular building. The roof was black and domed shape. Aligning the path leading to the gym were statues of Houndooms, all of them masterfully crafted. Ash confidently made his way down the path, Misty right next to him.

He pushed the heavy doors open, and made his way into the building. Upon entering, he and Misty were a bit taken back by how brightly lit the battlefield was. However, there was no one else inside. Normally the gym leaders were already there waiting for him by the time he showed up.

"Hello?" Ash's voice echoed throughout the large building. "Is anybody here?" There was no immediate answer.

"Maybe they're out?" Misty proposed, her eyes scanning up and down the gym, looking for any sign of its leader. "It is pretty early after all."

"No," Ash replied. "they have to be here." He then resumed calling out for the gym leader, hoping to finally get a response. "Hellooooooooo?"

"Hold on! Hold on!" A female voice echoed through the gym. Ash, Misty, and Pikachu both turned towards a hallway that connected to the battlefield, where the voice seemed to originate from. "Sorry, sorry, I was in the shower." From the hallway, a woman with a bath towel wrapped around her head ran onto the brightly lit field. "I didn't expect any challengers this early." She panted, trying to catch her breath.

Ash and Misty stared at her, a bit taken back by her entrance. The woman was wearing a yellow top which exposed her midriff, as well as a pair of white pants that went down just below her knees. As for shoes though, she seemed to be barefoot.

"Are you the gym leader?" Ash inquired.

The woman threw him a smirk, grabbing the towel around her head, and pulling it off. As she did so, her long, silvery-blue hair began to flow freely behind her. "My name is Karen, of the Johto Elite Four!" She introduced. "And yes, I'm the Ebonyville Gym Leader."

Ash, and even Misty were a bit dumbstruck by how attractive the woman was. Her face was perfectly framed by her long hair, and her body was something most women would kill for. What stuck out the most about her though, were her icy blue eyes that seemed to sparkle under the gym's lights.

_Good thing Brock's not here._ Misty mentally uttered.

XXXXXXXXXX

Brock held his trusty frying pan over the burning flames of the stove, cooking breakfast for his family. Suddenly, a strange feeling shot up his spine, causing him to instantly cease what he was doing. The Pokémon breeder then turned his head southward, feeling an unknown force calling out to him.

"Are you alright, Brock?" One of his younger brothers asked, taking note of his sudden jolt

"Huh?" He turned to his sibling. "Yeah, I'm fine." He paused. "I just felt a… disturbance."

"Whatever you say." His brother then diverted his attention away from Brock, going about his business.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash and Karen took their respective sides of the field, Misty standing behind the black haired trainer. Though Ash was confident that he could win this battle, Misty held a slight feeling of worry in her stomach, knowing that Ash was still recovering from his wounds after his encounter with Zak.

"I'd love to have a three on three battle with you," Karen spoke. "but Damian already came through here last night and put my poor Honchkrow in the Pokémon Center." She threw a smirk at the trainer. "So I guess I'll just have to beat you in a two on two battle."

"Sounds good to me!" Ash reached for his first Poké Ball, ready to battle.

"Then let's go!" Karen exclaimed as she tossed her Poké Ball onto the field; Ash followed suit.

"Pidgeot! Go get em'!" Ash released the bird from his red and white sphere, while an Umbreon was freed on Karen's side of the field. The two opposing Pokémon glared at each other, neither moving until their masters gave them a command.

"Umbreon," Karen started. "Let's get this going with a quick attack." She commanded the dark Pokémon. Umbreon began to sprint down the battlefield, traveling at such blinding speeds that it seemingly would vanish from sight every now and then.

Seeing his opponent's approach, Pidgeot lifted himself into the air, ready to counter the move. "Pidgeot, avoid it with agility!" Ash's tone was quite calm, yet the rush of battle caused him to scream the order. The bird began to soar towards his dark opponent, shifting in and out of sight as well.

The two Pokémon met up in the center of the battlefield, Umbreon extended her claws, and leapt towards the bird. However Pidgeot's impressive speed proved to be too fast, as he easily shifted out of the way. Umbreon pivoted on her front paws, causing her to skid to a halt, never once though did she remove Pidgeot from her sight.

"Now hit Umbreon with U turn!" Ash ordered the flying type. Pidgeot banked hard to his left, allowing for him to rip through the air as he made a complete one-eighty. Umbreon stood her ground, not moving as the bird screamed towards her.

"Faint attack!" Karen ordered. Just as Pidgeot was about to swoop down, his opponent vanished. Ash, Misty and Pikachu all gasped at this, trying to find the dark fox. Pidgeot slowed to a stop, trying to find where his opponent had gone to as well.

This was just the opening Umbreon needed. She reappeared directly behind the bird, and leapt onto him, digging her sharp claws into his back, while latching onto the back of his neck with her teeth. Pidgeot cried out in pain as the dagger like claws and teeth sank into him

"Oh no!" Ash could see that the surprise attack had certainly caused distress amongst his flying friend. Thinking quick, he gave an order that had so far proven useful for getting out of tight situations like this. "Pidgeot! Use mirror move!"

"Huh?" Karen was a bit taken back by the order.

Without any hesitation between his master's order, and the Pokémon's action, the giant bird vanished, in turn causing Umbreon to fall to the ground, landing gracefully on all fours. She then started looking around, trying to find her opponent.

"Umbreon," Her master called. "use your dark powers to find him." Her order was given in quite a calm tone. The dark type's eyes then began to glow a luminescent purple, allowing her to see through the dark power Pidgeot was shrouding himself in. Initially she saw nothing, but when she turned around, she found that the bird was about to smash his glowing right wing into her, he was far too close for her to avoid the attack though. Umbreon let out a cry as Pidgeot's wing slammed into her side, sending her flying across the battlefield, but still managing to land on all fours once more.

"Nice one Pidgeot!" Ash congratulated his Pokémon, jumping up and down. As he did so though, he felt a slight pain on his chest from the ice burns that were still healing.

"Careful, Ash." Misty looked on with concern.

"I'll be fine." He turned to her and gave her a wink before looking back onto the battlefield. "Now use air slash!" Pidgeot flapped his wings as fast as he could, unleashing auras of spinning blades towards his opponent. Umbreon watched as the blades approached her, panting slightly.

"You'll have to do better than that." Karen cracked a mischievous grin. "Umbreon, you know what to do!" She called to her loyal Pokémon. The yellow circle on Umbreon's forehead began to glow brilliantly, power circulating around it.

Ash could tell exactly what was going on. "Pidgeot! Get out of the way!" The bird looked over at his master, slightly confused by the order. He then turned back to see that Umbreon looked as though she was about to unleash a powerful blast from her forehead.

"Hyper beam!" The dark type fired the blast of concentrated power, shooting straight through the auras of spinning blades, much like how Swampert did with its ice beam. Pidgeot quickly tried to fly out of the way, just managing to escape with nothing more than a few singed tail feathers. "Uh oh." Karen looked down at her Pokémon to see that she was still recuperating after unleashing the attack, while Pidgeot remained unscathed, minus a few burns on his tail feathers.

Ash let out a joyous laugh upon seeing that Pidgeot had managed to avoid the powerful attack. Even Misty began to crack a smile, glad to see that Ash's wounds weren't holding him back as a trainer. "Now let's finish this up Pidgeot!" He said with a smile. "Steel wing!" The magnificent bird's wings encased themselves in a layer of steel as he screeched through the air, zeroing in on his opponent.

Karen bit down on her lip. "Umbreon!" There was quite a hint of worry in her voice. "Use last resort!"

Misty gasped upon hearing the order. "Oh no, Ash lookout!"

"Huh?" The black haired trainer was not at all familiar with the move, only hearing it mentioned before in passing during conversation.

Umbreon leapt up into the air, breathing heavily, as she had not completely recovered from using hyper beam. Pidgeot's wings shimmered in the light as he closed in on her, while Umbreon's front right paw began to shroud itself in murky darkness. The bird's wing slammed into the fox's stomach, while the dark type's illuminating claw smashed against Pidgeot's face. Their attacks caused both of Pokémon crash to the ground, neither one getting up upon landing.

"What?" Ash was completely bewildered by the event that just took place before him. Pidgeot had led the match for the most part, and just like that, he was out of the battle.

"Last resort is one of the strongest moves a Pokémon can learn." Karen explained. "Of course it can only be used when a Pokémon is on the ropes like that." She threw a smirk towards her opponent. "So I guess that makes this a one on one match now."

"Sure does." Ash reached for his next Poké Ball after withdrawing Pidgeot, knowing that his next choice could win this battle for him.

"Are you using Charizard?" Misty looked over at her traveling companion, curious as to what his next Pokémon would be.

He shook his head. "Nope." He tossed the Poké Ball onto the field, unleashing the little blue land-shark.

"Gible!" He cried out, joyous to finally have a chance to be in a gym battle.

Karen's eyes widened slightly. "A Gible." She nodded her head. "You've got a lot of potential right there, too bad I'm going to beat him." She recalled her tired Umbreon before reaching for the second Poké Ball on her belt. She gave the red and white orb a kiss before tossing it onto the field. "Go Houndoom!" The silvery-blue haired gym leader unleashed her black and red dog, sure that he could defeat the little dragon type, even though Gible had type advantage.

"Looks like the battles already going in my favor." Ash chuckled, happy to see that this was probably the smoothest gym battle he'd had since he started his journey in Zerra.

"Don't get too excited yet." Karen brushed her hair back with her hand. "Type advantage might win battles against amateurs, but it's not going to do you much good against me." She pointed towards Gible. "Start this off with a fire fang!" Houndoom let out a bark before charging down the battlefield, his jaws open and ready to rip his opponent apart.

Ash was a bit thrown off by her starting the battle so suddenly and without warning. _Figures, the dark type trainer likes to play a little dirty._ "Gible, you've got this! Stun him with sand attack!" Gible opened his jaws wide, and blew out a powerful gust of air, shooting the sand on the battlefield towards his canine opponent.

"Houdoom, use your flamethrower to stop that sand attack." There was no worry in her voice. The dog unleashed a barrage of flames, scorching the sand particles to nothing but ash; all the while he continued his drive towards Gible.

Ash was too surprised by the strategic move on Karen's part to call out another counter, allowing Houndoom to get a hit in on Gible. He sank his burning teeth into the dragon and ground type. His jaws clamped around Gible's entire body, and he proceeded to shake the small Pokémon violently.

"Gible!" Ash cried out to his Pokémon, who was quite clearly in trouble. "Break yourself out!" The little dragon began to frantically squirm and wiggle, but the dog's powerful vice grip of a bite was too strong for him to break out.

"Houndoom," Karen said with a crooked smile. "toss him up into the air and use shadow ball." Heeding his master's orders, Houndoom flung Gible up into the air, took aim, and then fired a dark ball of energy at the dragon type.

"Counter it with dragon pulse!" Ash commanded. The orders entered into Gible's ears, causing him to regain control of himself. He quickly zeroed in on the shadow ball that Houndoom just fired, and unleashed a green ball of energy to counteract it.

The two sphere's made contact with one another, creating a small explosion between the dark canine and the small land-shark. Though Gible wasn't able to hurt his opponent with the attack, it at least allowed him to land on the ground unscathed.

"Very clever." Karen praised her challenger.

"You ain't seen nothing yet!" Ash pulled his cap backwards. "Gible, draco meteor!"

The gym leader's eyes widened. "That little Gible knows draco meteor?"

Letting his actions speak for itself, Gible opened his jaws as wide as they could go, shooting an orange ball of energy up into the air, where it then exploded into about twenty or thirty smaller balls of energy.

Karen let out a gasp, knowing the damage that move could do. "Look out!" Her Pokémon kept a serious expression as he shifted between the many meteors that fell towards him. His impressive finesse and agility allowed for him to avoid most of the oncoming meteors, only being scathed a few times.

"Now's our chance, Gible!" The black haired trainer let out a grin. "Use dig!" Gible began gnawing down on the dirt battlefield, burrowing himself deeper and deeper into the ground while Houndoom was distracted by the draco meteor. This didn't go unnoticed by Karen, however.

"Ash," Misty whispered into his ear. "I think Karen is on to you. So be careful."

"Me and Gible have got this." The trainer more or less completely ignored the redhead's warning as he watched the last few series of meteors hit the ground. Houndoom was breathing quite heavily, clearly fatigued after managing to pull through the powerful attack. "You know what to do!" Ash shouted.

"Super fang, now!"

Ash and Misty felt their hearts stop when Karen barked that order. Gible shot up from underground, but Houndoom was ready for it. His sharp teeth began to glow as he clamped his jaws onto the little land-shark. Gible let out a cry of pain as the dog's powerful jaws began to crush him, feeling his entire body weaken drastically.

Ash and Misty found themselves at a loss of both words and breath as they watched the little Pokémon's well being rapidly decrease as Houndoom's teeth sank into the small dragon and ground type. After what seemed like a short eternity, Houndoom finally flung the little dragon to the ground.

Karen snickered. "Looks like I w-" She stopped mid-sentence, noticing that despite the powerful attack, the little land-shark was pulling himself back onto his feet.

Ash and Misty both let out a smile, seeing that the battle wasn't quite over yet. "Gible!" Ash cried out to his friend. "I knew that wouldn't take you down!" The land-shark turned to his master, and gave him a nod.

"Take down that Gible, and don't let him get up again!" Karen barked. Houndoom snarled as he took off, running towards the little dragon.

"Stop him with dragon rush!" Ash commanded. Without wasting a second, Gible darted towards Houndoom, a blue light surrounding him.

Karen's eyes narrowed. "Flame charge."

Ash and Misty both raised an eyebrow, neither one of them had heard of that move before.

Houndoom began to emit flames around his entire body, becoming a sprinting ball of fire. The dark fire type collided with the ground and dragon type. Upon the two smashing into each other, there was a loud bang, followed by a series of crackles. Ash and Karen looked onto the field to see that the two opposing forces were still pushing against each other, trying to overpower the other.

Despite Houdoom's power though, Gible's natural resistance to fire proved to give him the upper hand the land-shark needed to push the evolved fire and dark type back. Gible charged through the fiery canine, sending him flying across the battlefield, landing right in front of Karen. The silvery-blue haired Elite Four member looked down at her loyal friend, her mouth agape.

"Y..you won…" She conceded in disbelief; her Houndoom no longer able to battle.

"Yes!" Ash jumped up with joy, once again feeling a pain in his torso as he did so. This time though, he had to take a moment to shake off the pain.

"Easy Ash!" Misty ran up to him, and placed her hand over his chest, trying to help comfort him. "Don't overwork yourself like that." It was easy to tell how worried she was about him.

The black haired trainer smiled at his redheaded friend, happy to see how much she cared about his wellbeing. "I'll be fine." He replied warmly. "Trust me." The trainer then turned his attention back to his Pokémon. "Good job Gible!" Ash ran over to his side to pick him up and hug him, however he was stopped as the victorious Pokémon started to glow.

"W..what's going on?" Ash fell backwards, landing on his rear.

"I think…" Misty ran up to the trainer's side. "I think he's evolving." The glowing Gible began to change shape, taking a taller, leaner form. His arms began to grow longer, and his neck started to stretch out. Once he stopped glowing, before the two trainers and the Elite Four member, stood a Gabite.

"Ga-bite!" He shouted out upon completing his evolution.

Ash's eyes lit up. "Gabite!" He pulled himself back onto his feet and gave the Pokémon a hug. The dragon type gave his master a bit of a confused look, seemingly not wanting to be embraced as such. Ash then pulled himself away from the Pokémon and gave him a nod. "Good job, I knew you could do it."

"I told you he has a lot of potential." Karen spoke as she approached her victorious challenger. "And it was with that potential that allowed you to win the battle. So here you go, Ash." The beautiful gym leader handed the trainer a curved badge that was shaped like a crescent moon. "You've earned the Crescent Badge."

"Well, looks like you've only got three more to go." Misty threw her friend a smirk while he began to bask in the glory of obtaining another badge.

"Woohoo!" He shouted, holding up the badge. "I've got the Crescent Badge!" With that, he opened up his jacket, and pinned the badge next to all the others he had earned. He then looked back towards Karen, and extended his hand. "That was a great match.

The Elite Four member cracked a smile, and extended her hand as well. The two shook hands, exchanging respectful nods with one another. "Good luck, Ash." The dark master spoke. "I'll be rooting for you."

Misty approached the two trainers, feeling the need to end their handshake. Though she'd never admit it, the redhead felt uncomfortable with Ash engaging in a prolonged conversation with someone as beautiful as Karen. "We should get going." The water trainer spoke up.

"Yeah," He turned to his friend, agreeing with her.

XXXXXXXXXX

About twenty miles outside of Ebonyville, Zak leaned up against a tree, tired of running and hiding. From what he understood, he had just been put on the Pokémon League's blacklist, and if he showed his face in any heavily populated town, he'd be recognized instantly, and more than likely he'd be recognized by the police.

"This sucks!" He screamed, kicking the back of his heel against the tree. "All these years of hard work wasted!" After letting out the burst of rage, he sighed, slouching down to the ground. "Why did he have to win?"

"Sounds like you've got a problem." A female voice entered his ears.

Zak quickly shot up onto his feet, holding a Poké Ball in hand. "Who's there?!" He was completely frantic. "Y..you better stay away!"

"Oh, relax." The woman replied as she walked out from behind a tree. "I'm not here to fight you."

Zak glared at the woman, seeing that she was a young, blonde haired woman wearing all black, with a red "R" on the center of her shirt. "Y..you're with Team Rocket!"

"Yeah, and you're a trainer without a league to go back to." She replied coolly.

"How do you know about that?" Zak clenched his Poké Ball, ready to unleash his Donophan.

"Because, you're Zerra's official bad guy now." The blonde woman snickered.

"So?"

"So," She spoke. "I've come here with a bit of a… proposition for you."

Zak slowly lowered his Poké Ball. "Who are you?"

"I go by many names," She replied. "but you can call me Domino."

* * *

See, I was going somewhere with that.

I was pretty proud of this battle though, it was a lot shorter than the others, but I felt that though they were much shorter, they also had slightly more quality than previous battles.

Well, I've got to go finish up the next chapter, and hopefully have it posted by tomorrow, but most likely Saturday. After that I'll probably be taking a day long break, let some thoughts brew, and then it's back to making chapters, and hopefully I'll have the next one ready for you on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Till tomorrow (probably Saturday), See ya!


	20. Cascades and Tears

Sorry that this is getting posted a bit later than I expected it, mainly because this chapter didn't exactly live up to being as great as I thought it was going to be... But I salvaged it as much as I could.

Well, this will be the last chapter until either Tuesday or more than likely Wednesday.

So yeah, this chapter in hindsight is pretty uneventful... Sorta... I'll let you be the judge of that.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Well Ash, it looks like we're about halfway to Luna City." The redhead looked down at the map of Zerra once more. It had taken her almost five months, but the gym leader had finally mastered the art of map reading. "Which puts us only a few miles away from Rubyville."

"Rubyville?" The trainer turned to his traveling companion, waiting for her to explain a little more about the city.

"It's a really nice town." She started. "It's also at the base of the third largest waterfall in the world."

"That's pretty cool." Ash's enthusiasm was drowned out by his exhaustion from traveling for so long. Fortunately though, the weather had cooled now that September had finally rolled around, so this made traveling a lot more bearable. "How long until we get there?"

"If we hurry, we should be able to get there by noon." She replied, folding the map and placing it in her backpack. "Then I can finally take a shower."

"And I can finally get something to eat." The black haired trainer placed his gloved hand over his empty stomach.

The gym leader raised an eyebrow, throwing him a look. "I made you breakfast. How are you hungry already?"

"Uh…." Ash tried to come up with some sort of excuse other than _"Your cooking sucks, so I threw the soup you made behind the bushes."_ "Well, it's just all of this traveling has gotten me _really_ hungry." He replied, biting down on his lip, hoping she wouldn't see through his lie.

Misty narrowed her eyes. "If you say so, Ash." She seemed quite skeptical. She then turned away from the trainer, and the two continued down the road leading to their next stop.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Let me get this straight," Giovanni spun his chair around, facing the window behind his desk while holding his office phone next to his ear. "you are entrusting a mere child with obtaining vital information for Team Rocket?"

"No, of course not." Domino replied, laying down on a bed inside of a Zerran hotel, which she rented out under an assumed name. "I just told the little brat to watch that Ketchum boy, and tell me if he does anything out of the ordinary." She paused. "Just think of it as him doing my dirty work, while I plan out the "incident"." She cracked a malicious grin at the end of her sentence.

Giovanni sighed. "I'm putting a lot of faith in you Domino." He turned his chair back towards his desk. "So I'm also entrusting you to not allow that hotheaded child to screw everything up ."

"Oh don't worry." She replied, not the least bit of worry in her voice. "I've already obtained all the information I need about the two. He's just a pawn in our game."

"If you say so." Giovanni was still uneasy about her decision.

"So how goes the operation?" The officer decided to change the subject.

"The forces landed yesterday." He paused, taking a breath. "However, some of the crew have already reported unusual sightings."

Domino's eyes widened. "Do you think that it's…"

"Not a chance." He cut her off. "The stone was hardly reacting at all."

"Well what do you think it was then?"

The Boss of Team Rocket's constant scowl became much more apparent. "I don't know."

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash and Misty were on the outskirts of Rubyville, able to see the city off in the distance. It's office buildings and towers stood somewhere around eight to nine stories for the most part, but even so, they were still dwarfed when compared to the four hundred foot waterfall that towered over the city.

"That's pretty awesome." Ash mumbled.

"Pika."

Misty remained silent. She gazed down from the grassy hill they stood atop of, which was higher in elevation than the city, but lower than the waterfall; soaking in the beauty of the city. She had seen pictures of Rubyville on postcards before, but to see the sight in person was something completely different.

"What do you think, Misty?" Ash walked up next to her, placing his arm around her back, and resting his hand on her side.

"It's beautiful." She answered, wonderment filling her voice. She then turned to her… boyfriend. She felt comfortable with calling him that now. "It's even better that I get to see it with you."

The trainer felt his cheeks blush, finding her little comment to be very sweet. Ash leaned his head towards Misty's, their lips growing closer and closer, ready to exchange a soft kiss. The teens hadn't kissed since the charity ball back in Ebonyville, mainly because both of them were too nervous to try kissing again.

"Darkrai," A deep voice echoed from down the hill. Ash immediately pulled his head back, much to Misty's dismay. "Use dark pulse!"

It took no time for the trainer to figure out who it was giving those commands. Yet he could not see Darkrai's trainer anywhere around. Knowing he had to be close, Ash darted down the hill, searching for the origin of the voice.

Misty let out a sigh, knowing that the moment was gone now, but then proceeded to follow closely behind Ash.

Once the black haired trainer had finally found the mysterious man from Sinnoh, he saw that Tobias' Darkrai was going head to head with a Milotic. It seemed pretty apparent who was winning though. The water type was breathing heavily, as well as being bruised and beaten. Darkrai on the other hand looked unscathed for the most part.

"End this with shadow ball." Darkrai unleashed a crackling dark orb towards his opponent, knocking the serpent-like Pokémon down. As soon as its trainer saw his Pokémon crumble, he ran to the water type's side.

"I figured I'd run into you." Ash spoke as Tobias recalled his signature Pokémon.

"Ash Ketchum?" He turned to see his rival from The Lily of the Valley Conference. "It's good to see you again." By this point, his opponent had already withdrew Milotic, and began dashing towards the nearest Pokémon Center.

"Yeah," Ash replied, still feeling a bit of respectful resentment for his one time opponent. "It's good to see you too."

"Who is this you have with you?" The expert trainer looked over at Misty, who was now catching up with Ash.

"I'm Misty, Misty Waterflower." She extended her hand.

"Ah," He replied, extending his hand as well. "I didn't know Ash was friends with the Cerulean Gym Leader." He shook her hand.

"Yeah," She replied. "we've been friends since I fished him out of a river when we were ten."

The long haired trainer cracked a slight grin. "That sounds like quite the story."

"Yeah, and it ended with him blowing up my bicycle." She added, throwing her traveling companion a look.

Ash rolled his eyes. "So, Tobias." He interjected in their conversation. "How does a rematch sound?" He was quite eager to get another go at the man who defeated him in the Top Four.

The Lily of the Valley Conference Champion nodded. "I would love t-"

"Well, well, well," A calm, almost eerie voice traveled into their ears. "If it isn't Tobias, the would-be Sinnoh Champion."

The three turned to the origin of the voice, to see that a lone, long haired man clad entirely in black approach them. His most notable feature though was his heavy, black, leather trench coat.

"Damian," Tobias made a smirk. "If it isn't the would-be Kanto Champion." He threw the comment back at him.

Damian let out a huff. "At least I can actually beat the Elite Four." He approached the trainer, standing merely inches away from Tobias' face. "That's more than you can say, isn't it?"

Ash and Misty stepped to the side, quickly realizing that they were not the center of attention in this conversation.

"Well if I recall correctly," Tobias began to speak. "I remember making short work of you in the Silver Conference, two years ago."

The fair haired man made a scowl. "That was a fluke." He hissed.

"You call a three to zero defeat a fluke?" Tobias retorted.

Damian clenched a Poké Ball. "I could easily tear you apart right now," He snarled. Tobias seemed to show no concern, however. "but that would just be a waste of my time." Damian growled, loosening the grip on the Poké Ball. He then let out a huff and proceeded towards Rubyville.

"Hey!" Ash shouted to the rather rude trainer. Damian stopped in his tracks, not turning to face the black haired teen. "How about we have a battle? I've heard a lot about you, and I'd like to have a go at ya!"

"A battle with you?" He didn't even bother to look at him as he said this. "Maybe if you can make it to the championship, I'll consider it." Damian then continued down the path leading towards Rubyville.

"He's even ruder than Paul." Misty huffed.

"No kidding." Ash replied.

"Pika Pikchu." The little mouse agreed, sparks emitting from his cheeks.

The black haired trainer directed his attention towards Tobias. "So you know him?"

The long haired trainer nodded. "We've crossed paths before." He paused. "He's always been a bit of a narcissist."

"I can tell." Ash let out a sigh, closing his eyes as he did so. Upon opening his eyes, he saw that Tobias was heading towards Rubyville as well. "Hey Tobias, what about our rematch?"

His former opponent stopped, but dignified Ash by at least turning around and facing him. "Sorry Ash, but I have some things I must attend to. Hold me to it though. We'll have our rematch one day." He gave the trainer and his Pikachu a nod. "I promise." Tobias then turned away from the two teens and continued his way down the road.

"Well shoot." Ash mumbled to himself, kicking the dirt.

Misty placed her hand on his shoulder. "It's alright Ash, I'm sure you'll get your rematch soon." She said with a smile. "Besides, there's a place I want to take you to in Rubyville!" The redhead sounded quite enthusiastic about this.

"Really?" He looked over at her. "Where?"

"You'll just have to wait and see." The gym leader replied in a sing-song voice as she walked in front of Ash. "But first, I _really_ need a shower."

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash flipped through the channels on the hotel room's television as he chowed down on a turkey sandwich. The two trainers had turned in their Pokémon to a nearby Pokémon Center, letting them rest while the two teens enjoyed a night to themselves before continuing their journey tomorrow.

Misty was in the bathroom, the sound of running water projecting from inside. Though Ash tried to occupy himself with the television, all the black haired trainer could think about was that Misty, his girlfriend, was taking a shower in the room next to him. He tried to avert any questionable thoughts from his mind, feeling as though that would be no different than if he were to crack open the bathroom door and peak inside. However, his imagination was proving to be stronger than his willpower.

Suddenly, the water began to stop flowing, and the sound of the shower curtain opening could be heard. Ash could hear the sound of Misty's feet plopping against the tile floor as she stepped out of the shower. After that, everything seemed to grow quiet inside of the bathroom.

Ash looked down at his grimy cloths, realizing that it might be a good idea for him to take a shower as well. He got up from the bed, and grabbed a clean set of cloths from his backpack. He was about to grab his shampoo as well, but decided against it since he figured he could just use Misty's.

The bathroom door opened, and Misty emerged fully clothed, also wearing a white bath towel over her wet hair. "Oh," She said looking over at Ash, seeing that he was holding a clean set of cloths. "You're taking one too?"

"Uh, yeah." He replied as he made his way past her and into the bathroom.

"Oh, okay." The redhead was pleasantly surprised to see that he was finally beginning to understand the importance of cleanliness and personal hygiene. Many o' days did she have to put up with his nasty odor when they were younger, even in the past few months she had to remind him every now and then to bathe when his funk began to grow to the point where it started to become noticeable.

She flopped down on the bed Ash was laying on, and began to flicker through the channels just like the trainer from Pallet was doing earlier. She turned it to the news channel, curious as to see what else was going on in the world. What she found though, was quite a bit more interesting than she expected.

"Breaking news coming from Kanto and Johto…" The brunet anchor woman began to speak. Upon hearing that it involved Kanto, the redhead turned up the volume. "Recent reports say that the suspected crime syndicate known as Team Rocket has started removing its forces from the Kanto and Johto area." Misty's eyes widened. "These reports were confirmed by Mr. Goodshow, President of the Pokémon League."

"Ash!" Misty shouted over the running water.

"Yeah?" His voice echoed from inside.

"Get out here!"

There was a brief pause before he replied. "Uh, I'm in the shower."

Misty rolled her eyes. "Well throw a towel on and get out here!"

"Okay, okay." She could hear the sound of the water ceasing, and Ash stepping out of the shower. After a moment, the bathroom door opened, revealing Ash, who was wearing a white towel around his waist, still soaking wet from the shower. "What is it?" He seemed the slightest bit concerned with Misty's urgency.

"Look!" She pointed towards the television, which was now featuring Mr. Goodshow standing at a podium, dozens of different microphones from varying news broadcasters connected to the stand.

"Yes," He started. "I can confirm that Team Rocket has not only seemingly begun to pull their forces out of the Kanto and Johto regions, but also a majority of all suspected Team Rocket operations have ceased." He gave a quite serious look. "However, they have started moving their forces into southeastern regions, and their current intentions are unknown, but I ask that the regions they are moving into remain weary of Team Rocket's actions."

"Oh wow." The black haired trainer's eyes began to widen upon hearing the news. "It looks like Team Rocket is out of Kanto!" He exclaimed, joyous to see that the organization that had plagued his home region for many years was now finally leaving.

"Don't get too excited." Misty put a bit of a damper on his mood. "Isn't it a bit odd? I mean, just a few months ago there was that whole incident in Chester Town."

"Well yeah, I guess." Ash's enthusiasm seemed to diminish upon Misty dragging him back into a grounded reality. "But they're out of Kanto now, so that's what matters." He tried to salvage what was left of his optimism.

"If you say so." Misty turned back to the t.v. "It seems a little fishy to me."

The trainer shrugged his shoulders before returning to the bathroom and closing the door behind him, returning to his shower.

The Cerulean Gym Leader let out a very faint sigh, feeling a hint of worry build up in her stomach. "I don't like this." She mumbled to herself. "Not one bit."

XXXXXXXXXX

Lance remained behind the curtains, his arms folded, waiting for Mr. Goodshow to finish his announcement. After the Pokémon League President had ceased speaking, the press began to erupt with questions, asking for more details regarding Team Rocket's departure.

However, these questions would go unanswered, as the President stepped behind the curtains, and made his way backstage. "Well, that should put some pressure on Team Rocket." The elderly man nodded towards Lance. "At least all of the other regions are aware that Team Rocket could be heading their way."

"I don't think it'll do much good though." The dragon master let out a sigh.

"I know,' Goodshow sighed as well. "but if we keep the public in the know of Team Rocket's actions, then it makes it harder for them to act with discretion."

"Maybe," There wasn't much reassurance in the champion's tone. "but it hasn't stopped them before."

The Pokémon League President began to frown.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Here it is." Misty's tone was quite whimsical as she led her boyfriend to the base of the gargantuan waterfall. The sun had just started to set, and with the weather was beginning to chill. Because of this, most of the Rubyville's citizens had returned to the warmth of their homes. This allowed for Ash and Misty to have the beautiful site all to themselves.

The two took a seat on the grassy ground, next to the cascade of water; watching on as the icy-blue water crashed with the adjacent river, creating a cloud of mist, thus making a faint rainbow arc over the river.

"Wow," Ash spoke, taking a seat next to the redhead, allowing for the sweet smell of the water's vapors to overtake his sense of smell. "I've never seen a waterfall this big before."

The gym leader looked over at him with a slight smirk. "It's also pretty nice to not be plummeting from it either."

The trainer allowed for a short laugh to escape him. "That's true."

Misty took a deep breath, remaining silent and soaking in the moment before speaking. "Ya know," she said, breaking the silence. "my Dad used to read me a bedtime story about this place."

"Really?" The black haired trainer turned to his girlfriend, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah." She took a deep breath, allowing for the water vapor to enter her lungs. After doing so, she felt a sense that in a way, her father was with her at that very moment. "It's a silly little story though. I don't think you'd want to hear it."

"But I do." He was quite adamant in his statement, curious to hear about Misty's childhood. This was a subject that she hardly ever talked about, and Ash wasn't going to give up the chance to hear more about her past, even if it was just an old fairy tale her father used to tell her.

"Well…" She looked over at his pleading eyes. "okay." She conceded. "It's a silly story though."

"I don't mind." His words were sincere.

"Okay." She took a breath, trying to recall exactly how the story went. "My Dad told me that once upon a time, there was a village not far from here." She began the story. "In the village there was a little girl who only lived with her father, because her mother had died when she was young." The redhead paused for a moment, thinking about how her and the little girl were much alike in that respect. "The little girl's father always told her that if they were ever separated, she just needed to look up into the sky and follow the rainbow, and they'd find each other again." She stopped for a moment and looked back at Ash, seeing if he was still showing any signs of interest in the story; he seemed even more interested than before. "Then one day, a three headed beast from a far away land came to the village, and destroyed everything."

Ash began to show a bit of a concerned look. "Oh no."

Misty cracked a smile, seeing how interested he was in the story. "Not knowing what to do, the little girl ran away as far as she could. She had never left the village before though, so everything was completely alien and strange to her." She paused, and slowly began to bite down on her lip before continuing her story. "She felt so lost without her father there to guide her."

_I know that feeling._ Ash mentally noted.

"So she thought back to his words, "follow the rainbow". When she looked up in the sky, she found more than a rainbow though." Misty looked up to the orange and red evening sky. "She saw a magnificent, golden bird flying across the sky, leaving a rainbow in its wake."

"Ho-oh…" Ash whispered, having flashbacks to his numerous encounters with the legendary bird. He could remember so vividly how brilliantly his gold and orange feathers sparkled under the sunlight.

"So she followed the bird, and the rainbow he left behind." Misty continued her father's story. "Until she finally came to this very waterfall, where the bird had landed to take a sip of water. She approached the bird and asked if he knew where her father was." The redhead looked back towards the waterfall. "The bird simply flapped his wings and flew away, not giving her an answer. The girl cried for the bird to come back, begging for him to tell her where her father was. But then," Misty's mellow tone began to shift into an almost uplifting one. "she heard her father's voice behind her. It turned out that he been following the same bird, and the same rainbow, and it led the two to that very same spot." She began to smile, so did Ash. "After that, they built a home next to the waterfall, and eventually more people came and built their homes next to the waterfall as well. Then a few years later, Rubyville was founded."

"That's a cool story." Ash said once she was finished with the story.

Misty looked over at her boyfriend, a warm smile spread across her face. "I thought so too." She turned away from Ash, and tilted her head slightly upward, looking up towards the heavens, knowing that her mother and father were both watching over her.

"Misty," Ash spoke, breaking the redhead out of her trance.

"Yeah?"

"You've never really told me that much about your parents." Ash treaded on his words carefully, trying not to strike a raw nerve.

His girlfriend cracked a small grin. "Well now that I think about it, you've never told me _anything_ about _your _dad."

"Pfft." Ash shrugged. "What's there to tell?"

"What do you mean?" Misty leaned towards him, lightly placing her hand over his.

"I only have one memory of my Dad," Ash explained. "and I can hardly remember any of it."

"Could you try to remember?" Misty was quite intrigued.

"I can try, I guess." He sighed, going back to the deepest library in his mind, trying to recall one of his oldest memories. "I was somewhere around two years old, I think." He seemed to be a bit unsure in his words. "It was just me and my Dad walking down Pallet Beach, and he was holding my hand." His expression was clearly strained, as the trainer was trying his hardest to resurface the memory. "Then I remember sitting on the beach with him, and he looked at me and said he'd always be proud of me." Ash turned to his girlfriend with a frown. "That's all I remember."

"W..well what happened to him?" Misty asked, a bit hesitant in asking such a sensitive question. "If you don't mind me asking that is."

"Oh, it's fine." Ash wasn't the least bit uncomfortable telling her about this. "We don't really know what happened to him. Mom said that he had to go to Viridian City because something urgent came up, and after that, he vanished."

"I'm so sorry." Misty quietly, yet sincerely uttered.

"It's fine." Ash leaned back and turned to face the waterfall. "What about your family?"

"Well…." Misty always felt uncomfortable when the fate of her parents came up in conversation.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine." The black haired trainer was quite understanding of her discomfort with talking about the subject.

"No, no." Misty replied. "It's just that I've never felt comfortable enough around anyone to talk about it."

Ash gave her a nod, not the least bit upset with her.

"Until now…" She added.

The trainer from Pallet's eyes widened, feeling a warmness inside of him. "Y..you really feel comfortable around me?"

Misty looked deep into his eyes. "More than anyone else I've ever met."

Ash's mouth went slightly ajar, feeling a bit taken back by her words. "You really mean that?"

"Every word." She rested her head on his shoulder, and nuzzled up closer to him, allowing for him to wrap his arm around her. After a brief silence, she began to tell the tale of her and her family. "My mother died when I was really little. She came down ill, and died a few days later." She sighed. "After that, it was just me, my sisters, Dad, and Uncle Vinnie, who would come by to help out around the gym every now and then."

Ash recalled back to the stout, bearded man from Sunnyport.

"When my Mom was around, my Dad would hold gym battles during the day, and my Mom and my sisters would have their water ballets in the evening. All in all it brought in a pretty good income, or at least one big enough to support all of us." She paused and took a breath. "After she died though, it was just Dad. Now don't get me wrong, a gym leader's pay isn't bad, but it certainly isn't enough to pay for yourself _and_ four girls."

Ash let out a frown upon hearing this.

"So my Dad had to start running the gym, and take on a second job. But that still wasn't enough to make ends meet." She inhaled, paused, and then exhaled. "He wouldn't let that affect me and my sisters though. He'd always make sure we got everything we needed, even if it meant he had to go a night without eating." She felt a tear form in her left eye. "Whenever December came around, he'd go a week living off of one bowl of rice, just so he could buy me and my sisters presents for Christmas." Misty looked into the waterfall, feeling her heart sink as she thought about all the hardships her father had endured for her and her sisters.

"He sounds like a great guy." Ash had to admire how noble the man was.

"You have no idea." Misty felt herself begin to choke on her own words. "Then one day, it all took a turn for the worst." She felt her heart cease beating as she recalled back to that fateful night.

_The four year old Misty awoke from her deep slumber, The sound of three teenage girls crying downstairs pierced her ears like little needles. The young redhead pulled herself out of bed, and began to toddle to the door, having to reach up to turn the doorknob. _

_For each step she took down the stairs, the weeping grew louder and louder. She peaked around the corner, to see that her three sisters were all sitting on the floor crying, while Vinnie remained slouched in a chair. His face seemed to show many emotions; sadness, anger, surprise, but most of all, he just looked tired._

"_What's wong?" Misty whimpered; she still hadn't mastered the proper pronunciation of the letter "r". _

_Vinnie looked over at the youngest of the Waterflowers, a look of horror crossing his face upon seeing her. "M..M..Misty, j..just go back to bed." He got up from his chair and hurriedly made his way to the little girl that stood just a little over knee high to him._

"_Why is everybody crying?" His order had gone unheard. "Is something wong?" _

_Vinnie bit down on his lip. He leaned down to the little girl's level, and placed his hand on her shoulder, looking her in the eyes. "Well," He tried to sound strong, but he was just as torn up as the redhead's sisters were. "Your Dad, he…" He already felt himself choking up. "He's not coming home tonight." He felt a tear roll down his bearded cheek._

"_Will he be back tomowow?" Misty asked innocently._

_Her words were like a knife to his heart, but he had to stay strong…. For Roy. "No, he won't be coming back tomorrow." He fought the urge to ball right then and there. "On his way home, he was attacked by a some bad men…."_

_Misty's eyes began to widened in horror and disbelief. Even though she was young, she could see where this conversation was going._

"_And well…." Saying these next few words were like pouring salt on an open wound. "He's with your Mommy now."_

_The child's eyes began to shimmer under the light as tears began to form. "H…he's dead?" She knew what he meant by that, and despite how innocently he tried to put it, it didn't help console her at all. She felt all forms of emotions boil inside of her, mainly sorrow._

"_I'm so sorry Misty!" Vinnie couldn't hold himself back from balling as he wrapped his arms around the young girl, trying his best to comfort her._

_It didn't help at all though, no words or comforting could bring her father back, and that was all she wanted at that moment. She just wanted her father to be there to hold her and tell her that everything was alright, that this was just a bad dream and she'd wake up soon… But it wasn't, this was reality, and there was no escape from it, no going back and changing it, this was how it was, and this was how it would stay._

"It wasn't until years later that I found out what had actually happened." Misty had visibly started to weep as she recalled that horrible memory.

Ash tried to comfort her, holding her close to him, saying he was sorry for all that happened, but it didn't seem to be working.

"After I quit traveling with you, and returned to Cerulean City, Vinnie told me that my Dad had to take a third job by working in some sketchy, underground Pokémon fights because it was the only way he could make that extra bit of money to get us by."

"Oh no…"

"The night he died, he had won in a big fight that cost one of Cerulean City's biggest crime bosses a lot of money." She choked on the next few words. "So he had a few of his guys jump my Dad in a back alley when he was leaving, and they beat him to death."

"Misty, I'm so sorry…" He tried to hold her closer, but there was no way he could hold her any closer to him than she already was.

"And to top it all off, after they beat him to a pulp, they tossed him into a dumpster like a piece of trash!" There was a noticeable amount of anger to her words. "After all the great things he had done, all of the sacrifices he made, his last few moments of life were spent being beaten to death and then being thrown to rot in a dumpster in a back alley!" Tears had begun to cascade down her cheeks profusely.

Ash felt so terrible for bringing this up. This was supposed to be a fun little trip to a waterfall, and for them to enjoy themselves. However, because of his own curiosity, Misty was now in tears like he had never seen before.

The trainer reached into his left pocket, and pulled out a coral colored handkerchief with an insignia of a red sun in the center. He placed the soft piece of cloth against her cheeks, and wiped away all the tears she had to shed.

Once Misty caught a good look at the handkerchief though, she pulled herself back, her tears quickly beginning to shed at a much slower rate. "A..Ash…" She looked at the pink piece of cloth that was drenched in her tears. "I..is that my… handkerchief?" She paused, choking down a few tears. "The same one I gave you when you went to Hoenn?"

"The very same one." Ash looked her in the eyes, allowing for a faint grin to overtake him.

The gym leader felt a rush of emotions course through her. She had felt such extreme sadness just mere seconds ago, but now here she was feeling a sense of emotional whiplash now that she was feeling almost overjoyed to see that he still had her handkerchief that she gave him five years ago…. The same handkerchief that her father gave her.

Perhaps it was because her emotions were booming out of her just moments ago, and she was unable to contain herself because of that. Regardless of it all though, Misty felt her entire body become overtaken with an instinctive, near primal urge.

"Oh, Ash!" She flung herself onto him, wrapping her hands around the back of his head as she locked her warm lips with his, in turn pushing the trainer's back against the ground, while she laid atop of him.

Ash was completely taken back by her sudden turn in attitude, but upon becoming fully aware of what was going on, he wrapped his arms around her as he returned the deep kiss. The two remained lip-locked for a good while, letting their tongues do their elegant dance as the sun began to set onto them, and the moon began to rise over them.

* * *

Well, I hope you found that chapter to be pretty emotional. I wish it could have turned out a little better though.

In the next chapter we'll be visiting Luna City and all sorts of fun stuff will ensue from there.

Oh, and Texas Longhorn's A New Journey should be updating tomorrow, so I advice you guys go check that one out. And if you haven't read it before, you should go read it, it's really damn good.

So I'll see you guys on Tuesday or Wednesday. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and keep your eyes open for some oneshots and short stories I'll be posting on the side.

See ya!


	21. Something Mis-Chievous

I'm baaaaaaaaack.

This chapter would have probably been posted yesterday had it been a chapter I had planned out far ahead of time, but this is a bit of an impromptu chapter. I had been reading a lot of reviews and messages, and a lot of them have been requesting for something like this to happen (I'm not going to spoil the chapter).

As for the next chapter, it should be up by Friday at the very latest. I already have it very well planned out and as such it shouldn't take me any longer than a couple hours to write and a quarter of that time to revise it.

And enough of my blabbering. Enjoy!

* * *

"Noooooooo!" The black haired trainer bellowed, falling to his knees in front of the doors to the Luna City gym. Hanging from the doors of the light blue, spire-shaped building was a sign reading "Will Be Reopened Next Week".

The redhead rolled her eyes; Pikachu standing next to her, looking on at his master in bewilderment. "Ya know, Ash?" Misty started. "We could just spend the week here and train? Maybe we could even catch some new Pokémon?" Her voice was quite cheery, as she had been wanting to get the chance to train her Eevee, which still had yet to partaken in a battle.

"I guess." The trainer grumbled.

"Oh quit whining." The redhead snapped. "You need to start training anyways if you want to stand half a chance against your competition." She retorted in a slightly snarky tone.

"Hey!" The trainer took offence to the statement. "I can win the Master League, no problem!"

"Oh yeah, and I'm _sure _you'll have _such_ an easy time beating Tobias this time around."

"You better believe I will!"

Misty snickered. "I don't know." She turned away from her boyfriend, knowing how she could edge him on. "Someone as _strong_ and _handsome_ as Tobias must be an _amazing_ trainer. I don't know if someone like you could beat him." She tried to hide her smirk.

Ash felt a jealous ball of rage boil in his stomach. His face turned such a hot red that he practically began to fume. "Oh, is that what you think?" The black haired trainer growled. "I'll show you who's the better trainer!"

"Oh yeah?" Misty shot a look towards him.

"Yeah!"

"Well go prove it."

"I will!" Ash stomped past Misty, and started towards the Luna City woods, now feeling a driving urge to train as hard as he could.

_He's too easy._ Misty let a grin cross her face as he walked away.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Tracey," Professor Oak called to his lab assistant, who was filing research papers. "Snorlax is laying in the middle of the road again. Could you wake him up?" The elderly professor requested, looking out the window, seeing Ash's gargantuan Pokémon laying right in the middle of the dirt path.

"Sure thing, Professor." Tracey replied before heading downstairs. The young Pokémon watcher made his way outside. On his way out he made a point to grab a light jacket before leaving, as the air had grown slightly brisk from the early September weather, and some of the leaves had even started to change to their bright autumn colors.

He pulled out Ash's Poké Ball from his pocket as he approached the sleeping behemoth, planning on using it to move the slumbering Pokémon to somewhere he'd be out of the way. As Tracy prepared to recall him, the watcher could hear a faint whistling sound coming from off in the distance, towards the ocean.

"Huh?" Tracey turned southward, trying to see what was making the noise. It sounded almost like a military jet. He squinted his eyes, looking off in the distance. As the whistling grew louder, he could see a faint blue light glistening in the sky. As the noise grew louder and louder, the light grew brighter and brighter. The ground began to shake around Tracey's feet as the noise transformed from a whistle to a boom.

The light was now within no more than a hundred feet from the watcher, and the booming noise it emitted had grown to the point where Tracey had to cover his ears; it was so loud it even awoke the sleeping Snorlax.

Though it was hard for him to tell what exactly this screeching object was, Tracey could say for sure that it _definitely _wasn'ta jet, or any sort of aircraft for that matter. Once the figure blasted over Professor Oak's laboratory, it created a violent shockwave, knocking down Tracey as well as all the other Pokémon caught in its wake.

Once the object screamed by, Professor Oak came running outside from his lab, darting towards his assistant. "Tracey!" He shouted. "Are you alright?"

The green haired teenager pulled himself back onto his feet, nodding his head. "Yeah, I'm fine." He replied. "Did you see that thing that just flew over?"

"No, but I certainly heard it…" He paused to take a breath. "And felt it too." The professor had to take a moment to catch his breath, as he didn't quite have quite as much stamina as he did when he was younger. "What was it, a plane?"

Tracey shook his head. "No, that wasn't a plane." He gave his mentor a serious look. "I think it might have been a Pokémon."

Oak's eyes widened. "A Pokémon?" He had trouble believing the idea. "What makes you say that?"

"I'm a Pokémon watcher." He replied. "It's my job to notice things like that." He looked up to the sky, recalling his memory of what he had just seen. "It was hard to tell, but it looked humanoid in shape, and probably stood around six feet tall."

"Are you sure that's what you saw?" Oak raised an eyebrow.

"Positive."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Eevee, use tackle!"

"Ratatta, use bite!"

Eevee dashed towards the young trainer's Ratatta, charging with all the force she could possibly give. Her opponent's stood its ground though, only opening its tiny jaws as the little fox drew nearer.

Ash, Pikachu, Sceptile, and Pidgeot had ceased their training for the moment so they could sit back and watch the battle between Misty and the slightly inexperienced trainer. He felt that the Cerulean Gym Leader going head to head with someone as green as this trainer was a bit unfair. However, Misty tried to justify the match by only using Eevee.

The Ratatta tried to chomp down on the brown fox, but Eevee's speed proved to be faster than the mouse's jaws. Eevee slammed into it, sending the low leveled Pokémon flying a few feet backwards, landing on his back.

"Oh no, Ratatta!" The young trainer ran over to his Pokémon's side, and cradled it in his arms. The Pokémon didn't seem to have any serious injuries though. "Are you okay?" He asked, cradling the weakened Pokémon.

"Hey kid," Misty called to her defeated opponent, getting his attention. "take this." She tossed a yellow berry towards him.

"What's this?" he asked as he snatched the fruit from the air.

"It's a sitrus berry, your Ratatta should feel better after you give him a bite of that." She answered, giving him a friendly wink.

"Oh… uh.. Thanks!" Delighted to receive such a gift, he gave the berry to the tired little Pokémon. As soon as Ratatta took a bite, he quickly began to liven up.

"Not a problem." Misty said with a smile before she waved goodbye to the trainer. Her and Eevee then made their way towards Ash, who was leaning against a tree, his arms folded.

"Not bad Mist." He praised. "I bet Eevee will grow up to be really strong." The trainer looked down at the little fox.

Eevee looked up at her former master and replied with a joyous howl.

"Just you wait," Misty threw a playful look at Ash. "one day you're going to regret giving me Eevee when we take down your entire team."

The trainer from Pallet rolled his eyes. "Keep dreaming." As he said this, he could have sworn he saw something moving about in his peripheral vision. He wasn't quite sure, but it looked like something floating in the shadows of the forest. He quickly pulled himself off of the tree, and looked into the shaded areas deep inside of the forest, only to find that nothing was there; nothing he could see anyways.

"Did you see something?" Misty's words entered his ears, bringing him back to their conversation.

"Oh, uh… I guess not." Ash did a subtle double-take before returning to his conversation with his girlfriend. "So Misty, how does dinner sound about now?" He placed his hand over his stomach. "I'm starving."

"I'm so glad you asked!" Her eyes lit up. "I was thinking about making…."

"Uh…" Ash tried to subtly interject, his stomach growing the slightest bit queasy just thinking about what sort of "food" she had in store for him. "I was thinking we could just go out to eat, ya know?"

"Oh, do you mean like somewhere nice?" The gym leader was more than up for the idea.

"Well actually…"

Her cheeriness quickly began to diminish.

"I was thinking something like fast food."

The redhead rolled her eyes. "Of course you want fast food." She let out a sigh. "Alright, let's go." She returned Eevee to her Poké Ball; Ash did the same with Sceptile and Pidgeot. Once all of them were withdrawn back into their respective Poké Balls, the two began making their way back to Luna City.

XXXXXXXXXX

Zak let out a sigh as he remained hidden behind the bushes, watching the two teens closely through a pair of binoculars. All he had been watching them do for the past two, almost three weeks was just walk, bicker, and kiss every once in a while. Of course there was also the occasional battle with some hothead who thought they stood half a chance against the Sinnoh Top Four competitor.

"Zak to Domino." He spoke into the walkie-talkie.

"Yeah?"

"Absolutely nothing's happened since I've started watching them." He began to make a scowl. "You said that they knew vital information." His tone became slightly aggressive. "And you said I'd get a shot at getting back at Ketchum!"

"I did say that," She replied over the speaker. "and you'll get your chance when the Master League comes around." There was a pause on the line. "As for the information, that can wait until we have him in our custody."

"Well why can't I just snag him now?" He was quite eager to finally have his revenge.

"Because," Domino's voice almost began to growl at the thought of him making a move this soon. "if someone as high profile as him goes missing, people will start to wonder if Team Rocket had something to do with it." She paused. "Especially after that incident in Chester Town."

"Well then, how are we going to…"

"Just trust me." She replied coolly.

The blonde let out another sigh. "Whatever." He grumbled. "Oh." He remembered something he'd been meaning to ask.

"Yeah?"

"When am I getting my own Rocket uniform?"

There was a brief pause before Domino answered. "Do you really want to wear a Team Rocket uniform?" She spoke. "You're already wanted as is, wearing a that would only make you even more noticeable."

Zak sighed once more, seeing that she did have a good point. "Yeah, whatever." He mumbled. "Over and out."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Hey." Meowth lowered his binoculars, turning towards Jessie and James; the trio remaining hidden in a large tree. "The twerps have got someone spyin' on em'." He narrowed his eyes. "And it ain't us."

The blue haired Rocket agent gave the talking Pokémon a slightly perplexed look. "What do you mean?" James asked, snatching the binoculars from his Pokémon ally, and looking through them. "I don't see anything." He said. "I think these binoculars are broken, everything looks so far away."

"That's because you're holding them backwards, you moron!" The scarlet haired Jessie snapped, snatching them from James' hands. "Now let's see what we have here." The unofficial leader of the trio looked through the glasses, quickly finding the blonde haired kid in the blue hoodie. "Oh, it seems we're not the only ones watching the love-twerps." She hissed, lowering the binoculars. "How about we go find out what he's up to?" It wasn't a question so much as an order to her colleagues.

"T…that might not be a good idea, J..Jessie." James stumbled on his words, both because he was fearful of questioning Jessie's authority and also fearful of going against the orders Domino had given them. "Domino said that we're supposed to stay hidden." His voice was hushed, yet stern. "She said if we saw anything, we should just report it to her."

Jessie rolled her eyes. "Oh come _on_, James." Her tone seemed to be the slightest bit agitated. "When was the last time you got to use Carnivine?" She threw him a slight grin, trying to edge on her fellow Team Rocket member.

"That's not the point, Jessie!" Despite his resistance, there was a hint of temptation in his tone. "We have to follow our orders!"

"He's got a point Jessie." Meowth added. "I mean, normally we're always screwin' up the plans. Now we're actually doin' our job right for once." He shrugged. "Why stop now?"

The scarlet haired woman narrowed her eyes, and shot a look at her partners. "Fine." She growled, succumbing to James and Meowth's words. "But we're not calling this one in just yet. I want to keep an eye on him, myself."

XXXXXXXXXX

The two teens each took a bite of their juicy burgers. Ash had forgotten how rewarding it was to have a nice meal after a hard day of training. For the most part of his journey, he had hardly done any training at all. Challenging the Elite Four was already hard work in of itself, so the idea of training hadn't exactly crossed his mind until Misty brought it up earlier that day.

"So how do ya feel Pikachu?" The black haired trainer looked over at the electric mouse, who was gnawing on french-fries.

"Pika pika pikachu." He joyously squealed.

Misty put down her cheeseburger and looked over at the rodent. "If you keep training like that, you might actually stand a chance in the Master League."

"Hey," Ash spat. "Just you wait and see! I'll win!"

"Of course you will." Misty rolled her eyes, her tone both playful and sarcastic.

Ash threw her a look before taking another bite of his burger. His teeth gnashed into the patty, chewing it and grinding it till the pieces were small enough to swallow. After doing so, he finally replied.

"Speaking of the Master League," He started. "I've been thinking about something."

"And what would that be?" Misty asked, trying to hide how impressed she was with her boyfriend that he actually waited to finish chewing his food before speaking.

"Well, I was thinking that if I win this, maybe I should take the money." He said quite casually, taking another bite of his cheeseburger, which was quickly diminishing in size.

The redheaded gym leader raised an eyebrow, throwing a slightly puzzled expression towards the trainer. "Why?"

"Whaddya mean "why"?" He retorted. "It would just be a lot better for all of us if I took the money."

"I don't follow." Misty couldn't see where he was going with this. Ash was never the type of person who really cared about living the high life, and besides that, if he became champion, he could have easily made twice that much money over the course of a few years.

"I'm saying that if I take the money, I could buy out Cerulean City Gym with the prize money. That way, you and your sisters could keep your home, and you could still travel with me." He directed a smile at his girlfriend, thinking that she'd be overjoyed to hear this.

However, he didn't quite get the reaction he expected.

At first Misty jolted back a bit, surprised by his offer; Ash expected this to be her initial reaction. What he didn't expect though, was the reaction that came after this. Instead of smiling and seeming overly blissful about Ash's willingness to more or less buy her out of indentured servitude, her eyes began to narrow, and she started to look somewhat miffed.

"Aren't you happy to hear that?" Ash was the slightest bit confused by her reaction.

"No!" She snarled, her expression growing from miffed to furious. "I'm not going to let you do that!" She shot up from her chair. "If _you _want to have more money than you know what to do with, then that's fine, but _I _don't want a penny of it!" The redhead began to stomp towards the door, leaving Ash and Pikachu sitting there, completely dumbfounded by her outburst. "I'll see you in the Pokémon Center." She growled, just loud enough for Ash to hear her as she pushed open the door, and barged outside.

Ash and Pikachu both looked at each other, confusion spread across their faces. "What was that all about?" The black haired teen slouched over and cradled his head in his hands while he rested his elbows on the table, feeling a bit down about Misty's quite adamant rejection of his willingness to give her financial aid.

"Pikachu?" The yellow Pokémon was just as confused as his master.

Ash let out a sigh, upset that Misty snapped at him like that. The last time she was this angry at him was back in Gainesboro, but at least then he knew why she was mad at him; right now though, he wasn't quite sure _what_ it was he did to upset her so much. His thoughts were cut short though, as he caught sight of a shadow darting between two trees which he could see through the window he was sitting next to.

"What was that?" Ash leaned up and looked out the window, only finding nothing. "I swear I saw something out there."

XXXXXXXXXX

Misty kicked the dirt as she strolled down the forest outside just outside of Luna City. The sun had begun to go down, and nightfall was only half an hour or so away. The teen felt the redness in her cheeks begin to die down as her rage started to simmer.

She felt awful for making such an outburst, especially when Ash was just trying to be nice. However, the gym leader felt like his offer was a direct hit to her pride. If he were to help her weasel out of her own responsibilities, then what did that say about her? Did it say that she was unable to take care of herself? That she had to rely on the help of others just to maintain stability in her own life? To Misty, that's how the gesture made her feel.

The redhead slouched against a tree, slowly sliding down the tree trunk until she was sitting on the grassy ground. Misty wished more than ever that Togepi were there, that way she would at least have someone to talk to. She could have called out her other Pokémon, but they would just try to console her as opposed to just listen to her, like Togepi did. Heck, the gym leader wasn't even sure if Togepi had _ever_ listened to a word she'd said before, but whenever problems like this came up, it was always nice to talk to the little egg Pokémon.

"I'm not going to be the reason he misses out on the chance to become a Pokémon Master." She mumbled, resting her chin on her knees. Misty let out a sigh, feeling a horrible that Ash was actually considering giving up the chance to become a Pokémon Master just so that way she could keep traveling with him. It was a very sweet thing of him to do, but The redhead just couldn't bare to carry the guilt that she was the reason he didn't become a Pokémon Master.

Her thoughts were brought to an abrupt end though, as she heard a rustle in some nearby bushes. Misty quickly turned towards the shrubbery, and pulled herself back onto her feet. "Is someone there?" She spoke wearily, unsure of what made the noise. "Hello?" She began to approach the bushes that were now beginning to shake. "Who's in there?" The teen reached into the bush and pushed the shrubbery out of the way, revealing two yellowish-orange eyes beaming right at her.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash and Pikachu walked along the empty sidewalk that bordered between Luna City and the surrounding forest. Misty's burst of rage had left the trainer and his companion with a bit of a dull demeanor. They really had taken Misty's words to heart, even causing Ash to wonder her reasons for reacting so harshly. _Does she not want to travel with me after this? Is that why she was so upset about it?_ He felt a pit in his stomach just thinking about that. After their kiss in Rubyville, the two had seemed to be growing really close. They held hands often, they would sometimes snuggle up next to each other at night, they had even become more comfortable with kissing without being emotionally charged. Sure they still bickered like they always did, but that was never going to change. Now though, Ash was wondering if Misty had grown to think this relationship was a mistake.

The black haired teen looked down at his shoes, feeling his droopiness and all around flaccid attitude taking a toll on him. "I guess we should just go to the Pokémon Center and call it a night." He looked over at his little friend, who was just as down as him. "How does that sound Pikachu?" He tried to sound a bit more cheery, if only to help raise Pikachu's spirits.

"Pika pi." The mouse scurried up his master's leg, and rested atop of his head.

Ash cracked a smile, looking up, and seeing the little mouse peaking down at his master from over the brim of his hat. No matter how down Ash seemed, Pikachu could always make him feel better, even if it was only a little bit. "I'm sure she'll get over it." He spoke, sounding more cheery than before, but still feeling just as emotionally deadened. "Let's g-"

"Ahhhh!" A feminine shriek echoed from within the forest. It didn't take any time for Ash and Pikachu to place the voice.

"That's Misty!" Without even thinking, the trainer dashed into the woods, knowing he had to find his friend as soon as he could. A series of horrible thoughts ran through his head as he darted towards the direction the scream had originated from. _Was it Team Rocket? Was it a dangerous Pokémon? Was it something even worse?_ Ash didn't want to think anymore on what other bad things could have possibly happened to his girlfriend, knowing only that he had to get to her before it was too late.

The screams began to reverberate once again, growing louder as Ash and Pikachu grew closer to the epicenter. They knew they were getting closer, but the question was; would they get there in time? Feeling a bead of sweat trickle down his cheek, Ash finally found his redheaded friend. However, he was a bit taken back by what she was screaming over.

Misty was backed against a tree, a terrified expression on her face. All the while, a two foot tall, shrouded purple Pokémon with a head shaped like a witch's hat was… snuggling with her?

"Ash!" Misty shrieked. "Get this thing off of me!" She seemed to be in no physical distress whatsoever, but she certainly seemed uncomfortable with the shrouded Pokémon rubbing its cheek against her in a similar manner to a cat.

"Is that a…" Ash narrowed his eyes and pulled out his Pokédex, allowing it to scan the Pokémon.

"Mismagius, the magical Pokémon." The digital female voice spoke. "Though it is often associated with terrorizing its victims, it's said that sometimes its chants can bring happiness."

Ash flipped the Pokédex closed, and began to slowly make his way towards the ghost Pokémon. "Awe, c'mon Misty, it just wants to play." He chuckled.

The redhead glared at him, trying to hold the Pokémon away from her. "Just get it off of me!"

"Okay, okay." He grumbled, walking up behind the friendly ghoul. "Hey, Mismagius."

"Mismag?" The yellow-orange eyed Pokémon turned towards the trainer; a smile spread across her face upon seeing the black haired teen. "Mismagius!" She floated towards the trainer and wrapped her cloth-like arms around him, cheerfully wailing as she did so.

"This one is _really_ friendly." Ash let out a laugh, returning the hug to the Pokémon.

"A little bit too friendly if you ask me." Misty walked up to his side, and gave a bit of a perplexed look towards the Pokémon. "She was hiding in the bushes when I found her."

"Hey," Ash began to draw to a conclusion. "Were you the one following us around in the woods today?"

"Mismag." The ghoul gleefully nodded.

Misty felt a bit put off by the Pokémon's cheeriness. "She sure is friendly." She noted. "A bit too friendly."

"Ah, all ghost Pokémon are like that!" Ash looked over at his traveling companion. "Ghastly, Haunter, and Gengar were just like her." The trainer turned back to the ghost. "Hey, Mismagius?" He released the Pokémon from its loving embrace. "You seem really friendly, why don't you come with us?" Mismagius was quite a rare Pokémon, and he hadn't _ever_ seen a wild Pokémon that was _this_ friendly. Ash just couldn't pass up the opportunity to have her join his team.

The ghoul's eyes began to narrow, as she drifted back a few feet. "Mismag!" She cried out, her tone much more aggressive than earlier.

The black haired trainer jumped back a bit, confused by her sudden shift in attitude. "Uh.. Do you want to battle?"

"Mag!" She nodded, her eyes glaring right into Ash.

"Huh," Misty noted from off to the side. "I guess she's not exactly all that sweet after all."

"No," Ash looked over at the gym leader, giving her a sly look. "She just wants to make sure I'm a good enough trainer."

"Well I guess that means you're out of luck then." Misty replied flatly.

The trainer from Pallet let out a sigh upon hearing this. He then shook off the comment and turned towards Pikachu. "How about we show her how good we are, Pikachu!"

"Pika!" The mouse was quite eager to battle the witch-like Pokémon.

"Good!" A smirk crossed his face. "Let's start this off with a thunderbolt." Pikachu's red cheek pouches began to radiate a bright light as a powerful surge of electricity zapped towards the floating ghoul.

Before it could make contact with her though, Mismagius raised up one of her ghostly arms and veiled herself in a green shield, deflecting the electricity back at Pikachu, zapping the ground next to him.

"Pi!" The mouse jumped to the side out of sheer instinct.

"Wow," Ash began to clench his fist. "I didn't expect that."

"Careful," Misty advised from the side. "Mismagius is no pushover."

Brushing off her remark, Ash gave another order to the yellow rodent. "Alright, hit her with iron tail then."

"Cha." The mouse got down on all fours and sprinted towards the floating Pokémon, his steel coated tail shimmering under the moonlight which had just started to rise over the trees. Once he was within range, Pikachu leapt into the air and took a swing at the ghost.

Mismagius kept a calm, yet serious expression. She raised both of her arms, catching Pikachu midair with her psychic powers. Causing the Pokémon to remain helplessly suspended in the air while a blue aura surrounded him.

"Oh no, Pikachu!" Ash was beginning to have flashbacks to his first battle with Sabrina.

"Pikaaa!" He cried as Mismagius tossed him to the side, sending him flying into a tree. "Cha." He moaned as he slid down the rough bark of the trunk, landing on the grass. Before he could get back onto his feet, Mismagius had already begun to emit a dark ball of energy, channeling it with her ghostly arms.

"Look out Pikachu, she's going to use a shadow ball!" The rodent heeded his master's warning, and quickly leapt out of the way, just barely avoiding the crackling ball of darkness. When the shadow ball collided with the thick tree, the trunk uprooted and caused it to fall over, making a small tremor as it hit the ground. "Alright," Ash sighed under his breath, realizing how close his friend was to taking a very powerful hit. "Let's make sure she doesn't try anything like that again." He began to feel the rush of battle flow through him. "Use thunderwave!"

Pikachu's cheeks crackled once more as a light-blue surge of electricity traveled from Pikachu to his opponent, engulfing her in the stunning current.

"Mismag!" She cried, lowering to the ground as she began to struggle to keep herself afloat.

"Perfect!" Ash leaned forward, already reaching for an empty Poké Ball. "Now finish this up with volt tackle!" Without even needing a second to react, Pikachu dashed towards the weakened Pokémon as a shield of electricity surrounded him.

Mismagius tried to put up another protect shield, but the thunderwave prevented her from doing so. The mouse slammed into her ghostly body, sending her flying back as a surge of electricity coursed through her ghostly form. "Mag!" She yelped, landing on the ground, her shrouded body folding in like a pile of clothes as she began to lose consciousness.

"Poké Ball, go!" Ash shouted, tossing the red and white sphere towards the beaten Pokémon. Once the ball made contact with her, a red light emitted from the orb. The light engulfed the Pokémon, and then pulled it into the sphere.

Ash and Misty both leaned forward, biting down on their lips as they watched the red light on the center of the Poké Ball glow. The ball shook for a moment. At first it was quite violent and it seemed that Mismagnius would surely break free. However, after a moment the shaking began to die down until it ultimately ceased, and the red light vanished with an echoic "_gong_".

"I did it!" Ash cried out in joy. "I caught a Mismagius!"

Misty walked up to his side and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Good job, Ash." She leaned over and gave him a light peck on the cheek, causing both of them to blush faintly.

Taking a moment to recompose himself, the trainer brushed off the gesture and picked up the Poké Ball. "Well," He looked over at Misty. "I think that was a good way to wrap up the day."

"Yeah, it's about time you caught a Pokémon." She replied. "Now lets just see if you can actually train it."

"Hey," He glared at his girlfriend. "I'm a good trainer." He seemed a bit irked in his statement.

"Remember Haunter?" She threw a look at him. "Ya know, the last ghost Pokémon you had that didn't do anything you told him to do?"

"That doesn't count!" He defended. "I didn't even really catch Haunter!"

"Whatever you say, Ash." Misty rolled her eyes in a playful manner as she turned away from him and started to make her way out of the woods.

"What do you mean? Haunter didn't count, I never even tried to capture him!" Ash was taking this far more seriously than she was.

The gym leader let out a quiet giggle, making sure the trainer didn't hear it. If he knew how cute she was finding him right now, he'd let it all go to his head, and like she said back in Sunnyport, _"The world already has enough trouble fitting his ego in it_._" _

* * *

Alright everybody, I had received A LOT of requests for Ash to catch a Pokémon while he was here. However, a lot of the requests were things like Dragonite, Lucario, Electrivire, and things like that. While those were good ideas. I just felt that as opposed to giving him one of these much more well known Pokémon, I'd much rather give him a Pokémon that not many people know about, or that I feel is a bit under appreciated. That way it would give Ash a more defining and memorable team because he's using a Pokémon that not many people use... That and also Ash hasn't had a single ghost Pokémon since Haunter, and even then he didn't really "own" Haunter.

Well, I've got to go work on the next chapter for you guys. I'm really hyped about this one... It's gonna be good.

See ya!


	22. The Ice Queen of Luna City

Here we are, another chapter today. I'm pretty proud of this one, it's certainly exciting, and it was also written and revised in just one day.

This is another gym battle, but holy s*** is it a good one. (and as many of you may know, I don't boast about my work often)

Oh, while we're on the subject of gym leaders. This may be a statement that's a bit late to the party, but I felt that this should be clarified for a few people who have been messaging me about ideas for gym leaders. I already have all the gym leaders set in stone. I already had them all figured out before I even started writing the story, so I really appreciate the ideas, but I'm sorry to say I can't incorporate them into the story (Unless I was planning to use them anyways)

Oh, and regarding this weekend and more than likely next week. I'm going to a con with my girlfriend over the weekend, so no updates then, and also I'm probably going to be seeing family for Thanksgiving over the week shortly after that, and they don't have internet over there. So this leaves me very saddened to say that there will probably be no updates whatsoever until next Friday. However, I should have a good amount of chapters done by then, and I'll be posting them daily (or even two chapters a day).

Well, enough talk. Enjoy!

* * *

Ash stomped up to the Luna City Gym doors, knowing that it was now opened for business, and all of his Pokémon were in top shape after a week of dedicated training. The trainer was certain that his team was now in their peak form, and nobody could possibly stop him.

Misty followed close behind her boyfriend, feeling just as proud of her team as well. During the week, she had spent a good portion of the time training her young Eevee, getting her ready to evolve her into a Vaporion. The rest of the time was spent working with Golduck, and helping him learn how to perfectly control his psychic powers. Though the Pokémon seemed to exhibit great control during his battle with Blastoise, he still had a bit to learn when it came to using his new found powers.

Once Ash reached the now unlocked gym doors, he pulled them open, oozing confidence. "I'm going to get my sixth gym badge!"

The redhead was going to tell him he was full of himself, but truth be told; Misty felt like he was probably right. Though she'd heckle him, in all seriousness, she felt that his team was in the best condition it had ever been in.

As the two entered the gym, they were met by a chilly breeze that sent goosebumps up their arms. It was quite cool outside, but the inside of the gym felt so…. Icy.

"It's f. in here." Misty grabbed her arms, trying to use her hands to keep them warm.

"I think that might be why." Ash pointed towards the center of the room.

The redhead looked in the direction the trainer was pointing, seeing a Pokémon battlefield that was quite different from the previous ones, as this one was covered in a thick sheet of ice. "Oh, wow." Misty let out, seeing her own breath as she spoke.

"Hello?" Ash called out for the gym leader, his voice echoing throughout the freezing building.

There was a moment of silence, as the echoes slowly beginning to vanish, leaving both of the trainers wondering if there indeed was anybody inside. Once the light on the other side of the gym turned on though, both of them quickly came to realize they were not alone.

"Greetings, my friend." A soft-spoken female voice carried across the gym, echoing just as Ash's had.

The black haired trainer looked across the battlefield to see a blonde haired woman standing before him. She wore a very modest purple dress, and kept a very humble stance. "Are you the Luna City Gym Leader?" He asked, slightly taken back by her lack of theatrics, which the other gym leaders seemed to boast. Even Karen, who was coming out of the shower, made a point to look elegant when she pulled off the towel on her head.

"I am." She replied. "My name is Glacia, I am a master of ice Pokémon." She beamed into Ash's eyes. "Do you have what it takes to defeat me?"

"You better believe I do!" There wasn't a hint of doubt in his voice.

"Pikachu!" The rodent added, sharing his master's confidence.

The Hoenn Elite Four Member let a faint grin escape from her, slightly amused by the young trainer's eagerness to battle. "Well then," She spoke, reaching for her first Poké Ball. "this will be a three versus three match." She took hold of the red and white sphere, preparing to toss it onto the icy battlefield. "Is that clear?"

Ash nodded, reaching for a Poké Ball as well. "Crystal clear."

"Good." She seemed completely at ease in her statment, not a single hint of worry clouding over her, and not a single dash of adrenaline coursing through her. "Then pick your Pokémon." Glacia spoke, tossing the sphere onto the field, releasing her first Pokémon.

"Glalie!" The ice type's voice boomed as it emerged from its Poké Ball.

Ash snickered under his breath once he saw the floating ice type. He knew that the ice coated Pokémon didn't stand a chance against what he had in store for it. "Charizard, I choose you!"

The red and white orb busted open, unleashing the giant orange lizard. The showboating Pokémon made sure his presence was known by shooting a puff of fire into the air. After making his entrance, his orange eyes glared towards his opponent, though victim seemed to be the more appropriate word in this instance.

Misty nodded, silently praising Ash's choice in picking Charizard.

"A Charizard, not a bad choice." Glacia spoke, keeping her calm tone. "If you plan on winning the entire battle with him though, then you've got another thing coming." She let out a mischievous grin, her demeanor seeming to change. "Now show me if your fire burns hot enough to defeat me!" She pointed towards Charizard, who was standing across the field. "Glalie, use headbutt!"

Glalie lowered its head, its horns pointed directly at the fire breathing lizard. With a surprising amount of speed, the floating head began soaring towards Charizard, an icy trail left in its wake.

Ash and Charizard both remained rather unfazed by this however, knowing that the ice type stood little chance against the powerful fire type's intense flames. "Charizard, stop him with a flamethrower!" The dragon-like Pokémon opened his gaping jaws, and unleashed a barrage of flame towards the ice type. The searing flames completely engulfed the ice type, causing it to vanish in the blaze. "Looks like I already won this round." The trainer threw a smirk the gym leader's way, knowing that there was no way the ice type could have withstood the attack.

Glacia kept a blank expression though, showing no concern whatsoever.

Both Ash and Misty raised an eyebrow, bemused by the little amount of concern she expressed, or lack thereof for that matter.

Once Ash called off the flamethrower, Glalie still hovered there, seeming completely unaffected by the attack.

"What?!"

After a moment though, Glalie began to fade away as if it was just some sort of illusion.

Misty's eyes widened. "Ash, it was a substitute!"

"Uh oh." Ash looked above Charizard to see that the real Glalie was hovering over the giant lizard, his angry expression locked onto the fire type.

"_Now_ use headbutt." Glacia spoke, slightly amused by Ash's reaction to seeing her Pokémon looming over his.

Glalie dove downward, its horns pointed directly at Charizard, who was still none the wiser to the ice type's presence.

"Charizard, above you!" Ash's call was just a little too late though, as the fire type looked up just in time to see Glalie's hard, icy body slam directly into him.

"Raaargh" The mammoth lizard bellowed as he fell to the ground, completely caught off guard by the surprise attack from above.

"Now," Glacia began to feel herself getting more into the battle. "seal him up with ice beam!" Glalie hovered over the downed fire type, and unleashed a shimmering beam of ice towards him.

Charizard, though down, was not out of the fight by any means. Without even waiting for Ash's command, he unleashed a stream of fire upwards while still laying on his back, meeting in the middle with Glalie's ice beam. If this had been any other ice Pokémon, Charizard's flames would have seared through it as if it wasn't even there. However, Glalie was quite a bit stronger than he had expected, its ice beam even holding back his scorching flames.

"Charizard," Ash called to his Pokémon, knowing he had to get the winged lizard back onto his feet. "give Glalie a taste of what your flamethrower can really do!" The flame on Charizard's tail began to ignite, in turn his flamethrower becoming even stronger, quickly overpowering Glalie's ice beam.

"Get out of there!" Glacia commanded, knowing that if her Pokémon took a direct hit from her opponent's blast, it'd be put out of commission for the rest of the battle. The floating head heeded her orders, and moved out of the way of the blast after ceasing its ice beam.

Now free to move about, Charizard endedd his flamethrower, pulling himself back onto his feet. However, his ego was now the slightest bit bruised that he had allowed for himself to be outwitted by an opponent he should have easily been able to dispatch. He was about to make a mad dash towards the ice type, but stopped himself, knowing that Ash probably had some sort of strategy planned out.

"Charizard, use flamethrower again!"

It wasn't quite the strategy the lizard was expecting, but he complied anyways. The lizard opened his jaws once more and spewed out flames all across the icy battlefield, causing the thick ice to melt away. However, none of the flames seemed to hit Glalie.

It was quite clear that Glacia had taught the ice type a thing or two about speed and finesse. The floating head swerved between each of the bursts of fire, and would return the favor by shooting a weak icy wind attack at the lizard whenever it got the chance.

"You're going to have to do better than just spew flames at me like mad, if you want to beat me." Glacia snickered.

The black haired trainer gritted his teeth, seeing that this battle wasn't quite going as planned. Though Glalie's icy wind attacks were weak and hardly effective against the fire breathing lizard, they were certainly beginning to take their toll on him. "Alright, if she wants to play like this, let's show her that new move we learned!" Charizard ceased his flamethrower, turned to his trainer, and nodded.

"Ash!" Misty tugged on his shoulder. "Isn't that a little bit extreme?"

"This is a member of the Elite Four, and she's not going to hold anything back, so why should I?"

The blonde haired woman gave him a silent nod. _So he does have a brain after all._

Charizard lifted himself into the air with his great wings, and the flame around his tail began to brighten. "Use flare blitz!"

The Elite Four member's eyes widened. "Glalie!" She called out to her Pokémon. "You can't let him hit you!" There was nothing else she could say, as there was no way its ice beam, or any of its attacks for that matter could hold off a flare blitz.

Charizard's body became engulfed in vicious flames as he let out a bloodcurdling roar that caused the entire gym to shake. He then screamed across the air, his burning body storming towards his opponent. Glalie could do nothing more than try to move out of the way of the attack, however Charizard's terrific speed was far more than a match for his. The monstrous lizard's searing hot body crashed into Glalie's ice coated form, sending Charizard's scorched opponent flying across the icy battlefield, and slamming into the wall behind Glacia.

"Glalie!" Its master cried, running to its side to make sure it was okay. The ice that formed a mask like structure around its face had begun to melt due to Charizard's flames, revealing its black body. "You did well, my friend." She praised before returning it to its Poké Ball.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Charizard was boasting about his victory by spewing flames into the air, and letting out a triumphant roar. "Good job Charizard!" Ash was quite proud of his Pokémon, especially proud of him for executing flare blitz so perfectly.

"Don't get too excited, Ash." Misty tried to keep him from becoming too overly confident.

"What do you mean?" He turned to his girlfriend, giving her a slightly puzzled look. "She uses ice types, and Charizard is a fire type."

"Well yeah," The redhead replied. "But Glacia is a lot like Prima, she's famous for using both ice _and_ water types."

"Oh." Ash gulped, remembering that the line between ice types and water types was not so much a fine line as it was a hazy middle ground. "Well Charizard can take em' on, can't ya?" He still remained confident. Charizard turned to his master and let out another roar, ready to face whatever Glacia had in store for him.

"Your Charizard may have fared against Glalie, but lets see how well he does against Dewgong." Her tone was calm, her voice so quiet that Ash and Misty could barely hear her. She tossed her second Poké Ball onto the icy battlefield, which had started to melt away into a pool of water, as Charizard's flames had more or less destroyed Glacia's side of the field.

"Dewgong gong gong!" The sea lion let out as it peaked its head out from the icy water.

"Careful Ash." Misty whispered, her voice carrying into Ash's ears.

"Just because Dewgong is a water type doesn't mean Charizard can't beat it." He growled, not directing his response towards Misty, but more so towards Glacia.

"Let's find out then, shall we?" She beamed across the half melted battlefield. "You make the first move."

Ash accepted her offer with a nod. "Charizard, let's boil that water!" With a roar, the lizard took to the air, and unleashed a barrage of fire towards the freezing water Dewgong was sheltering itself in.

"Dewgong, jump out and use aqua ring." Her tone remained quite calm. The white sea lion leapt out of the water, avoiding being scalded by Charizard's heat, and quickly encased itself in multiple rings of water.

"Charizard, direct your flamethrower at Dewgong!" The dragon-like Pokémon took aim at the water and ice type, unleashing another barrage of flame. However, the rings of water surrounding the Pokémon proved to be too powerful, and just deflected the scorching blaze. "No way!" Ash couldn't believe this, he had never seen an aqua ring that was so strong that it could deflect flames as powerful as the ones Charizard was spewing.

"Ash! I told you to watch out!" Misty barked, a bit irritated that her boyfriend thought he could take on Dewgong with a direct fire attack.

"Hydro pump!"

"Get out of there, Charizard!"

The order came too late though, as Dewgong unleashed a powerful blast of ice cold water that ripped through Charizard's flamethrower, and hit him directly in his agape mouth. The fire type let out a roar of pain as the cold water gargled down his throat, causing him to fall from the sky and land on the ice, making a loud crash upon impact.

"Charizard, are you alright?!" There wasn't a response, as the fire type was out cold. The black haired trainer let out a sigh upon seeing this. "You did great buddy, take a rest." He pulled out the lizard's Poké Ball and recalled him back into the red and white orb.

"Pick your next Pokémon." Glacia spoke, showing no intent to boast about her easy victory over the fire type.

Ash reached for his next Poké Ball, knowing that he could still pull out an advantage over Dewgong's water attacks with his good friend from Hoenn. "Sceptile, go!" Upon release onto the icy ground, the grass lizard kept a cool expression, holding his signature twig between in teeth.

"This should prove good." Glacia spoke, readying herself for what she was sure would be an interesting battle, as this was one of those rare occasions where both Pokémon were super effective against the other. "Dewgong, get back in the water!" She ordered. The water type was quick to obey her orders, leaping into the shelter of the ice cold water.

"Use pursuit!" Ash quickly ordered. Without any hesitation, the lizard dashed across the icy field, and dove into the freezing water.

"Ash, what are you doing?" Misty couldn't believe that he was allowing for Sceptile to get in the water with Dewgong, who clearly had the advantage over the lizard when it came to swimming skills.

"Just trust me on this." Ash mumbled.

Meanwhile, under the icy water, Sceptile, using the extra strength he received from being in the water, took hold of Dewgong's tail, and flung it back onto the icy surface, where the lizard would at least be on even ground with his opponent.

"Gong!" The sea lion cried as it slammed into the hard ice, landing near Ash's side of the field. The green lizard then quickly leapt out from the water, and landed in front of the water type, cutting it off from getting back to Glacia's side of the field, where it could retreat back into the safety of water.

"Now that its cornered, use razor leaf!" Sceptile flung a series of razor edged leaves towards his opponent, throwing them like ninja stars.

"Counter it with icy wind." Glacia spoke coolly. Dewgong opened its mouth and unleashed a series of frosty shards towards Sceptile, destroying the razor leaves in the process. Yet the blast continued to shoot towards Sceptile

"Dodge it!" The order was in vain, as the small shards of ice ripped into Sceptile's body, causing him to stumble back a few feet, letting out a cry of great pain as the super effective attack made contact.

Glacia cracked a grin, seeing the battle was going in her favor. "Now headbutt him into the water." Dewgong followed the orders, and charged towards its opponent. Once it got close to the lizard, the sea lion lowered its head, directing the horn atop of its skull towards the grass type.

"Use detect!" Hearing Ash's command, Sceptile snapped out of its daze, and his eyes began to glow a light blue. The lizard could foresee the imminent attack, and used this knowledge to move out of the way of the powerful headbutt by sidestepping it, causing Dewgong to skid to a halt. "Leaf blade!" The leaves on the grass type's forearms began to glow as he leapt towards the water type, slicing across the sea lion's chest, causing a great amount of pain to his opponent.

"Dewgong!" It cried.

Glacia bit down on her lip. She thought that her opponent had been too dazed to counter, this left her in a bit of an unforeseen situation, which she didn't have a plan for. "Dewgong, you have to get back in the water!"

The water type tried to obey her master's command, however before it could retreat back into the water, Ash's grass type took hold of Dewgong's tail with his lighting quick hands.

"Slam it into the ice!" Without any hesitation, the grass type mustered up a large amount of strength and smashed his foe onto the hard ice floor.

"Gong!" It cried, the fight clearly going far into Sceptile's favor.

"Dewgong, you have to fight back." Glacia seemed to be growing quite concerned. The sea lion did nothing more than weakly pull itself back up, barely able to continue to battle.

"Let's finish this up, Sceptile." Ash threw a grin towards his powerful grass type. "Use one more leaf blade for good measure!"

"No!" Glacia couldn't call out a counter, as Dewgong was still too dazed to do anything. Sceptile's razor sharp leaves cut across the water type's chest once more, knocking it back down, this time sending it into a state of unconsciousness.

"Good job, Ash!" Misty gleefully cheered, happy to see that her boyfriend was able to pull a relatively easy victory over Glacia's second Pokémon.

"Oh this battle is far from over." The gym leader spoke, her tone growing slightly agitated from losing the round so easily. "Now I'll show you what I _really_ have in store for you." Glacia reached for her final Poké Ball, and tossed it onto the battlefield. "Go Walrein!"

The red and white sphere busted open, unleashing the massive walrus Pokémon into the water. "Walrein!" It roared, flashing his giant tusk-like teeth.

The black haired trainer let out a gulp, quite aware of the danger his opponent presented. "You've got this Sceptile!" He cheered on, trying to hide his worry. The lizard looked over at his master, and gave him a nod, before turning back to his next opponent.

Glacia crossed her arms and closed her eyes. Over the years, this Pokémon had won many battles for her, even taken out entire teams single handedly. With that said, the Elite Four member was confident that her Walrein could take out two Pokémon with little issue. "Dive." She ordered.

Ash and Misty were a bit taken back as the ice and water type dove underwater. Was this to signify the match had already started? Taking it as a cue that it had, Ash decided to give an order to his Pokémon as well. "Look out Sceptile." He spoke wearily. "She's up to something."

The entire gym had grown dead silent. Ash, Misty, and Sceptile were unsure of what Glacia was planning, as she didn't even seem to be focusing on the battle. Her eyes were still closed, and her arms were still crossed. Was this supposed to be some sort of joke?

"So are we going to actually start this battle or what?" The black haired trainer had grown the slightest bit irritated by the lack of action on the battlefield.

The blonde opened her eyes. "Ice fang."

There was an eruption from under the ice, as the giant walrus busted through the thick sheet of ice, right under Sceptile. The lizard gave a surprised expression as the walrus Pokémon took hold of him with his icy teeth, crushing down on him like a vice.

"Scep!" He cried in pain as the super effective attack smashed down on him.

"Sceptile!" His trainer cried out, frightened not just because he was afraid of losing the round, but also because he was worried about the wellbeing of his Pokémon.

"Oh no!" Misty exclaimed. "Ash, you've got to get Sceptile out of the battle, there's no way he can go on like this!"

There was no need for the trainer from Pallet to do so though, as Glacia ended it for him. "Walrein, let him go." She paused. "You've already won." Obeying his master's orders, the ice type opened his jaws, freeing Sceptile's limp, unconscious body from his vice-like grip.

"Sceptile, return." Ash whimpered, recalling the downed Pokémon.

"Pikachu." The mouse tugged on his master's jeans, eager to step into battle.

"P..Pikachu?" The trainer looked down at his loyal friend, a bit hesitant to send him in against such a powerful Pokémon. He may have had type advantage, but he stood little chance against the walrus when it came to sheer strength. "Are you sure you want to battle?"

"Cha!" The yellow rodent seemed almost offended by the question.

"Alright, just be careful out there." He motioned for the mouse to get onto the half ice and half water battlefield.

"Ah," Glacia spoke as the little rodent scurried onto the field, bravely facing his monstrous opponent. "I've heard quite a bit about your Pikachu." She smirked. "I can't wait to see how it fairs against my Walrein."

Ash threw a look at his opponent. "Well I can tell you right now that Pikachu is gonna win!" He pointed towards the Walrein which was sitting afloat in the water. "Use Thunderbolt!"

"Pika!" The electric mouse darted towards the edge of the ice, sparks flying out of his cheeks.

"Body slam!" Glacia ordered. The large walrus shot out of the water, about to send his entire blubbery body down on the small Pokémon.

"Forget the thunderbolt Pikachu!" Ash cried out. "Just get out of the way!" Pikachu looked up to see the massive water type about to slam down on him, and quickly scurried out of the way with his impressive speed before he could be crushed by his opponent's massive weight. Walrein's body slammed into the ice, causing it to crack and break off as his body re-submerged into the icy water. "Alright Pikachu, try to use thunderbolt again." The loyal Pokémon nodded, sparks emitting from his cheeks as he took aim for the massive body of water Walrein was hiding in.

"Use body slam again!" The icy floor in front of Pikachu busted open, revealing the powerful Pokémon as he leapt back into the air, planning on crushing his opponent. Pikachu was left with no choice but to retreat once more, as there was no way he could withstand the Walrein's massive weight crushing down on him. "Keep it up, Walrein." Glacia smirked. "Don't give him a moment to breath."

Walrein began to pursue the yellow mouse, shooting up through the ice, and slamming down onto where Pikachu had just been standing, while the electric Pokémon was left with little choice other than to just run away.

"Ash!" Misty screamed. "You're running out of ice for Pikachu to run on!"

The trainer bit down on his lip, and looked on at the battlefield as Walrein chased down Pikachu, crushing the battlefield with his gargantuan size as he did so. The arena was becoming less of an ice battlefield, and more of a water battlefield each time Walrein made an attempt to fling his weight at Pikachu.

"You've got to do something before Pikachu has nowhere left to run!"

"I know!" He snapped, not meaning to sound as bitter as he did. The black haired trainer clenched his fist, trying to think of some sort of last second contingency plan. As he examined the battlefield, he could see that there was still about a quarter of the ice remaining on the field. It may not have been much, but it should have been enough for this plan Ash was brewing in his head to work.

"Pikachu, use double team and agility!"

"Pika!" He panted as he created an illusionary form of himself. Initially Walrein was unfazed by this, however when the two Pikachus began to use agility, he started to lose track of which Pokémon was the real one. Confused, the massive ice and water type lunged towards the one to his left; the fake one.

_Yes!_ Ash pulled his cap back. "Pikachu, now use Thunderbolt!" The slightly winded mouse began to emit sparks from his cheeks as Walrein was distracted by the fake Pikachu.

"Walrein!" The gym leader shouted. "Look out!" Before her words could reach him though, the walrus Pokémon felt thousands of volts of electricity surge through him as Pikachu let the massive water type have everything he had to give.

"Wallllrein!" It shrieked, slumping onto the ice, this time with only enough force to crack it instead of break it.

"Great work Pikachu!" Ash congratulated his friend, thinking he had won the battle with the powerful electric blast.

Misty shook her head. "It's not over yet!" The redhead pointed towards the blubbery Pokémon that was pulling himself back up, seeming to shake off the powerful electric attack.

"B..but how?" Ash couldn't believe what he was seeing, it just couldn't be real. There was just no way that Walrein could have withstood such a powerful shock.

"That was a nice try, Ash." Glacia spoke. "But Walrein's blubber is really useful for absorbing electricity." She pointed towards her Pokémon, showing the sparks of electricity that were being absorbed into his bulbous belly. "Now Walrein, show that Pikachu what your ice fang can do."

Ash began to have a flashback to the last round when Sceptile was crushed by the very same move. "Don't let him get you, Pikachu!"

"Cha." The mouse nodded, waiting for the right moment to jump out of Walrein's way as his opponent violently flopped his way towards him, his two saber teeth glowing a light blue as shimmers of ice began to trickle down from them.

Just as Walrein's massive teeth were about to sink into Pikachu, the yellow rodent sidestepped the move, causing his opponent's teeth to sink into the ice Pikachu was standing on just seconds ago. For a very brief moment, Ash, Misty, and Pikachu felt a glimmer of hope in thinking that Walrein had just gotten himself stuck in the ice. However, his powerful jaws proved to be too much for the ice, as he easily ripped through it when he pulled his head back.

"Pikachu, shock him again!" The mouse zapped the walrus once more, causing an immense amount of pain on his opponent, but just like last time, it was all shaken off when his blubber began to absorb the blow.

Glacia began to bite down on her lip, seeing Walrein take another hit. Though Pikachu was tired, she had still yet to get a hit on the nimble little mouse. All she needed though was just that _one_ hit and the match would be over. "Walrein, I want for you to show him how powerful your blizzard attack is!"

Ash gulped. This would be the first nonphysical move that Walrein had used since the match started, so this wasn't a move that Pikachu could just run from. "Pikachu!" Ash screamed. "Jump in the water!"

"Pika!" The mouse replied, leaping into the water to seek shelter from the attack.

"Gotcha." Glacia snickered. "Jump in the water with Pikachu!"

Ash and Misty both let out a gasp at the Elite Four member's dirty trick. Pikachu could try to electrify the water, but if past experience said anything, this Walrein wasn't going to let even Pikachu's strongest electric attack stop him…. But it was worth a shot.

"Pikachu, use thunderbolt!" Ash shouted to his Pokémon who remained afloat in the water, while his opponent swam towards him at a blaring speed. The rodent zapped the water around him, but just as expected, Walrein absorbed the attack into his blubber, only slowing him down momentarily.

"Now, use ice fang!" Walrein's massive jaws opened wide as he zeroed in on his opponent, turning his head horizontally so he could grip Pikachu from his sides.

"Pika." The yellow Pokémon whimpered as the massive jaws began to close in on him, unsure what to do.

"Thunderwave!"

"Chuuuuu!" The Pokémon immediately responded by unleashing a paralyzing current point blank into Walrein, causing him to roar out in pain as his body became locked in the position it was currently in.

Glacia let out a groan, unable to believe her opponent was able to pull out a move like this at the last second. "Shake it off!" She barked at her most powerful Pokémon.

"Get out of the water, Pikachu!" The mouse needn't be told twice, as he quickly paddled his way out of the water and back onto the ice while his opponent started to shake off the thunderwave. There was no time to rest though, as by the time Pikachu got his bearings straight, the mammoth Pokémon had already pulled himself back onto the ice as well.

Pikachu was breathing heavily at this point, even the slightest hit from his opponent would probably do enough to take him out at this point. Walrein didn't seem too healthy either though. His blubber may have helped him withstand the powerful surges of electricity that had been dealt to him, but there wasn't much more he could take before his body finally gave in.

"Walrein, he's tired and he's cornered." Glacia said sternly. "Use ice fang."

Ash watched on as Pikachu's opponent began to flash his giant teeth, ice trickling down from them. He could have told Pikachu to run, but all that would do was draw out the match and tire out his yellow friend. He had to act now before Pikachu was out of energy. "Hold your ground, Pikachu." The trainer spoke calmly, trying to hide his worry.

"What?" Misty couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Pikachu will be destroyed out there if he holds his ground!"

"Pika?" The little Pokémon was a bit taken back by the orders, but hesitantly stood his ground as Walrein once again began to violently flop towards him, his teeth shinning an icy blue. Once it got up close to his tiny opponent, the ice type opened his massive jaws once more, and prepared to slam down on Pikachu.

"Ash do something!" Misty shrieked, worried that the tiny mouse would end up worse off than Sceptile.

"Hit him right in the teeth with iron tail!"

"Chu!" The yellow Pokémon felt a rush of adrenaline course through him as a steel coat began to form around his tail.

"What's he doing?" Glacia couldn't tell what was going on, but she knew she didn't like it.

Pikachu pivoted on his left foot, and smashed his iron coated tail right into Walrein's massive teeth. The Pokémon let out a cry of pain as his teeth cracked upon the iron tail's impact. The two massive tusks-like teeth both dropped onto the ice, leaving Walrein with an ineffective ice fang attack.

"What did you do?!" Glacia was clearly concerned for her Pokémon.

Walrein bucked back, wailing in pain as Pikachu picked up the advantage he needed to win.

"Now finish this off with a volt tackle!"

"Pikachu!" He cried out, as he smashed into the walrus with an electrically charged tackle, sending him flying across the battlefield. Walrein splashed into the water, creating a rather large wave upon impact. After a moment, it resurfaced, but was completely unconscious.

Glacia looked on in awe, unable to believe what had just happened. "Walrein, are you okay?" She reached down and placed her hand on the unconscious Pokémon's forehead as he lay afloat near the edge of the pool. "Poor thing. We'll get Nurse Joy to glue your teeth back on." She recalled the Pokémon into his Poké Ball, and let out a sigh. "It looks like I underestimated you, Ash." She nodded towards the trainer from Pallet.

Ash fell back in exhaustion, the intensity of the battle proving to be quite tiring. He couldn't have imagined how Pikachu felt after all this. When he looked onto the field to see his yellow friend being picked up by Misty and carried back to their side of the gym, he felt that his question was answered.

"Good job Pikachu, you did great out there." He said as he pulled himself back onto his feet, and petted his friend who was cradled in the beautiful redhead's arms.

"If it hadn't had been for your planning, Pikachu would have lost out there." Misty looked up at the trainer, cracking a faint grin. "Good job, Ash."

The black haired trainer let out a faint smile, still exhausted from his battle. "So Glacia," He looked over at the blonde woman who was making her way towards their side of the field, walking along the edge of the arena since one fourth of the battlefield was submerged. "That was an awesome battle. I hope we can have a rematch someday."

"Oh, I'm sure we will." She replied, trying to hide her smile. "But right now, you've earned the Tundra Badge." She pulled out a badge from a purse she carried with her, as her dress didn't have any pockets. The badge looked like a mountain with snow covering the peak. "Congratulations."

The trainer gleefully accepted the badge, happy to now have his sixth badge. "Woohoo!" He exclaimed. "Only two more badges, and I'm going to the Master League!" He shouted, holding the badge triumphantly in the air.

He still had two badges left to go, and an entire championship he had to win. He also had to bring his journey to a momentary halt since his Pokémon needed a well earned trip to the Pokémon Center. However, none of this fazed him at all, as this was a hard earned victory, and most certainly a well deserved one.

Misty let out a sigh, happy to see that Ash was now one step closer to obtaining his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master… Or was he? She still hadn't talked to him about her reasoning as to why she didn't want for him to buy out the Cerulean City Gym. After the incident with Mismagius, the entire conversation had escaped from her mind, and due to all the training she never had a moment to think about it.

It was something that needed to be talked about, and something that needed to be talked about _soon. _However, now wasn't the time nor the place for it. Now was a time to celebrate another victory, and to celebrate becoming one step closer to the Master League.

* * *

I don't know about you guys, but that battle tired me out just reading it... Anyways, since this will more than likely be my last update until after Thanksgiving, I want to wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving, and I'll see you soon! (And I'll bring plenty of chapters with me)

Stay classy internet


	23. Plans in the Shadows

Guys, I'm sorry if this is such a crappy chapter. It is one of those necessary evils I had to get out of the way, because after this chapter, Team Rocket is going away for a bit.

The upcoming chapters have a lot going on involving Ash and Misty (as well as some others), so there was no room for Team Rocket, and I had to sum up this little subplot (for the moment). Sorry if it seems rushed, sorry if it seems forced. I just really was not looking forward to this chapter, and I hate to say it but I think it shows.

I feel I should also let you know that Ash and Misty have no dialogue in this entire chapter, but that's because they're not the focus of this chapter. (And I can pretty much promise you this will be the ONLY chapter not focusing on them.

Anyways, now that I'm back I can focus on the story again. Unfortunately my trip proved to be a bit... distracting, and I was hardly able to get ANYTHING done. I also had a friend who I haven't seen in a long time come over today so I couldn't really work on the story much today either, but tomorrow and every day pretty much up until Christmas is going to be dedicated to finishing this story.

I'm really sorry my output has been so low lately, I know that I probably update faster than a lot of other authors on this site, but it still leaves a bit of a pit in my stomach to go a week without updating anything for you guys.

Well, starting up tomorrow there should be another chapter, and hopefully another on Sunday. (Though it may be late Sunday). As for everything after that, we'll just have to wait and see.

Enough of my blabbering, lets get this chapter out of the way. Enjoy! (I hope you enjoy it more than I did)

* * *

Evening had arrived over Kanto as a blackened helicopter made its descent onto the landing pad of a secluded building just north of Celadon City. On the landing pad, three figures stood awaiting for the chopper's arrival. Two of them wore the trademarked black Team Rocket uniform, both wielding fully automatic rifles. The third; the outlier of the trio, was a lanky, quite fragile looking man in glasses, wearing a light blue dress shirt with a tan necktie.

Once the helicopter had landed and the rotors began to cease spinning, the door on the side of the aircraft opened, revealing the Team Rocket Boss himself. Giovanni stepped down from the chopper, his loyal Persian walking by his side.

The crime lord spared the pleasantries of introductions and greetings with the trio that were waiting for him. Instead, he simply walked by them, and they followed suit next to him. The two armed Rocket members each walked by the boss' side, while the frail man in the glasses began walking right next to his boss, fumbling with a manila envelope as the guards escorted them into the building.

"M..Mr. Giovanni." The man in the glasses spoke, clearly intimidated by his boss' daunting presence. "I..I have the reports that you requested regarding the unidentified object that flew over Kanto earlier this week." He stumbled over his words.

Giovanni glanced over at the man in the glasses, keeping pace with the guards as they entered the building. He looked down at the manila envelope his employee was holding to see that the quite nervous man was trying to hand it to him. Remaining blank in expression, minus his constant scowl; he took the envelope in hand.

"Good." He put flatly as he opened the envelope, pulling out a series of documents that were covered with fuzzy looking pictures of what looked to be a luminous blue light against a cloudy sky. Along with the pictures, there was also a list of reports with dates and times etched next to them.

"I..is there anything else I can do for you, sir?" The lanky man gulped.

"Give me the most recent update on the operation." He didn't even bother to avert his eyes from the documents.

The man bit down on his lip. "W..which operation are you referring to, sir?"

Giovanni shot a look his way, only moving his eyes, not even making an effort to turn his head towards the employee; his Persian doing the same. "Which one do you think?" The Team Rocket boss hissed, a slight bit of agitation in his tone.

"O..o..oh, that one." His heart was racing, fearful of his boss' notorious demeanor. "Well, the search squad has narrowed down the location of the Pokémon to an area of approximately two hundred square miles."

Giovanni raised his eyebrows for just a split second, showing what appeared to be momentary shock. "That's a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect results like that until the end of next month." He cracked a slight grin. "It's good to hear that the search is going ahead of schedule." He added, beginning to scratch his cat behind the ears, causing the Pokémon to let out a soft purr.

The employee inhaled, relieved to see his boss was in a good mood. "Can I get you some coffee, sir?" He politely asked, taking silent notice that his boss seemed to have a few bags under his eyes, possibly from lack of sleep over these past few days.

"I hate coffee." He growled.

"Oh," He tried to think of something else, wanting to stay on the boss' good side. "would you like a cigar then?" Though he didn't know about Giovanni's hatred for coffee, he did know that his boss was quite a fan of imported cigars.

"I'm trying to quit." He snarled. Giovanni then averted his eyes from the documents, towards his employee. "Give me one." He put his hand out, awaiting the cigar.

A bit taken back, the man in the glasses pulled out a finally wrapped cigar from his pocket and handed it to the crime lord.

Giovanni took the large cigar between his index and middle fingers as the man in the glasses lit it with his lighter. The large man then took a puff of the tobacco, feeling a sense of pleasure fill his lungs as the aroma filled his respiratory system.

Looking back down at the documents, he let out an exhale, thick smoke pouring from his mouth and nostrils, the fume running across the papers. "So where was the last reported sighting of our little friend, here?" He asked, referring to the documents.

"Um…" The lanky man tried to recall what he had read. "The last confirmed sighting was somewhere between Saffron and Cerulean City. After that, he slowed down to the point that he began to fly silently." He paused. "There were a few possible sightings over Cerulean City, but we can't say for sure if that was him or not."

"It's him." The boss returned the documents to the manila folder, sealing it shut after doing so. "I want eyes on Cerulean City at all times. If he moves, I want to know."

"Why not just capture him now? We have the Alpha 2 and Beta 2 drones ready, with Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, and Zeta on standby."

Giovanni threw another look towards his employee, though this one not as hostile as the one from earlier. Before speaking, he took another inhale of his cigar; exhaling before he spoke. "We could send all of the drones after him, but it wouldn't make much difference if we don't have the entire Team Rocket Combat Squad to subdue him first."

"And they're in the south, aren't they?" The man in the glasses had to draw to that conclusion himself, as he wasn't exactly kept in the know of the stationing of Team Rocket members, so much as he was the reports they sent in.

"Yes." He replied plainly. "That's why I want for all our satellites to be kept on him constantly until we can send in a squad to apprehend him." As he said this, the guards escorted him to a set of dual mahogany doors, stopping as they silently waited for their boss to enter the private lobby leading to his office. "Listen to me." Giovanni turned to the lanky man, giving him a quite serious look. "I want all reports from Cerulean City regarding our little "_friend_" to be reported directly to me." He intentionally withheld the name, knowing that there were some lowly grunts nearby who could easily overhear the conversation. "Not to my secretary, not to the other board members or their errand boys, _me_." The crime lord glared into his eyes. "Is that understood?"

"Y..y..yes sir." He gulped, leaning back slightly from intimidation.

"Good." Giovanni pulled out a card with a series of numbers written across it, and handed it to his employee. "This number goes directly to my office. You are to only use this when you have important information regarding…" He looked around for a moment, seeing two grunts standing duty down the hall. "him." He leaned towards the now quite frightened man. "Is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" He tried to stand a confident ground in his reply, but his voice cracked, giving away his nervousness.

"Good." The boss replied, giving the man his card. "Now all of you go find something useful to do." He added. "I have my own business to attend to."

With that, the three lower ranking Rocket members made their way back down the hall, presumably going to their standard posts.

Giovanni opened one of the dual doors, and entered the quiet lobby with his Persian, being greeted by his black haired secretary.

"I see you picked up smoking again, Mr. Giovanni." She spoke as she went through some files on her desk.

Giovanni replied with an inaudible growl as he made his way past the secretary's desk, and towards his office door. "Put all my calls on hold." He mumbled as he turned the doorknob to his secluded workplace. "I have some business to attend to." The crime boss pulled the door open and closed it behind him and his Pokémon upon entering his office.

He made his way across the darkened office, towards his desk, and pressed a red button atop of the finely crafted solid oak desk. Upon pressing the button, the wall directly to the right of the desk flipped horizontally, unveiling a giant television screen . After a brief moment, the screen turned on, showing a long table with two people sitting on each side. The two closest to the camera was a lean, teal haired man wearing a white Team Rocket uniform, which resembled a suit more than it did the standard Rocket uniform. On the left front pocket of his shirt was the trademarked red "R". The other was a woman somewhere between her late twenties to early thirties with shoulder length red hair, and wore a similar white uniform as the teal haired man who sat across from her, though her uniform resembled a dress more than a suit.

The other two sitting on the farther end of the table both wore a variation of the standard black Team Rocket uniform, and appeared to be the youngest of the four. Both of them were male. One had a purple fohawk and a purple goatee to go with it; the other with slightly shorter than shoulder length green hair, and a black cap atop of his head.

"Oh, Mr. Giovanni." The lean, teal haired man spoke in an almost snooty tone. "It's nice of you to join us."

The Rocket boss threw a scowl at the executive board member. "Spare me the pleasantries, Archer." Giovanni took a seat in the chair sitting in front of his desk. "Let's get down to business."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Jessie, are you still watching that kid?" James groaned as he snuggled under his blanket, trying to get a goodnight sleep.

"Yeah." She mumbled, looking at the unknown blonde through a pair of night vision goggles. "I know he's up to something."

"Well just call Domino already." Her partner groaned.

"You call her."

"Well I would if you hadn't taken the radio from me!"

"That's the point."

James let out a sigh, knowing that the scarlet haired woman's irrational, one sided vendetta with Ash and Misty's stalker would get him, Jessie and Meowth in trouble eventually. "Why do you care so much about him anyways?" He threw the blanket off of him, knowing that he couldn't sleep with the constant worry that Jessie would sick Seviper after the kid and probably inadvertently blow their cover.

"Something about him just rubs me the wrong way." She replied, zooming in with the night vision goggles.

"Someone's a bit paranoid." The blue haired agent grumbled.

"What was that!?" She screeched.

"Shhhh!" He raised his finger over his lips. "You might wake up the twerps!" His voice was stern, yet hushed.

"Yeah, ya already woke me up." Meowth griped as he rolled over, trying to ignore his comrades' bickering.

"Shut up Meowth!" Both of them hissed at the talking Pokémon.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash shot up from his sleeping bag, and looked around the darkened woods. He saw that Misty was still fast asleep in the sleeping bag right next to his, while Pikachu was cuddled up with her since she didn't toss and turn as much as his master did.

The black haired trainer could have sworn he heard something coming from behind the bushes. However. no other sounds seemed to be originating from that direction, so he figured it must have been nothing. With a shrug, Ash pulled himself back into his sleeping bag, drifting back to sleep the second his head rested against the soft pillow he kept tucked away.

XXXXXXXXXX

Zak let out a sigh, thinking that something interesting was about to happen. Of course though, it was nothing… It was always nothing. His calls to Domino had been growing farther and fewer between. The only reports he sent in anymore were when he called the Rocket Officer to tell her that the two teens had arrived in a new town.

If he hadn't been getting paid so handsomely for this, he probably would have just up and quit. However a steady income of a thousand dollars a week for just watching two teenagers travel across the Zerra region was certainly hard to turn down. That, and also Domino had promised that he'd soon get a chance to have his revenge on Ash. All he had to do was wait until the Master League, and he'd finally have a shot at getting back at the trainer from Kanto.

His thoughts about his immanent revenge were cut short as he heard a rustle from the bushes about fifty or so feet away from him. He looked towards the direction the ruckus had come from. The noise quickly came to a cease once he directed his attention towards it. Shrugging, Zak figured it must have been a Weedle or some other small Pokémon.

The blonde haired Rocket member took a deep breath before putting away his binoculars and laying on his back, allowing for himself to drift off to sleep. Surprisingly, all of this stalking had taken a bit of a physical toll on him, causing him to have no trouble falling asleep on the grassy ground.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Jessie, don't tell me you're going to go through with this." James placed a hand on the scarlet haired woman's shoulder, trying his best to convince her to not go about confronting the blonde haired kid.

"You and Meowth can stay here if you like, but I want to know what he's up to." She snapped, pulling herself away from her blue haired partner.

"Please don't do this Jessie." He was begging at this point. "Besides, you haven't battled in a long time, you might get hurt." It was a last ditch effort to keep the fiery woman from going about this; it didn't work. "Jessie, come back!"

She ignored him, and trudged her way through the bushes, vanishing in the darkness of night as she made her way to the mysterious blonde stalker.

Letting out a growl of frustration, James turned to Meowth, who had gone back to sleep. "Wake up!" He barked.

The cat Pokémon wearily opened his eyes, slowly pulling himself up. "Whaddya want?"

"C'mon Meowth," He grabbed the cat by the paw and pulled him to his feet. "We've got to stop Jessie!"

"Hey, watcha' doin'?" He cried out, unable to free his paw from James' hand as the agent drug the Pokémon along with him into the woods.

XXXXXXXXXX

The inside of the P.L.A. Tower in Crestpeak City was all but completely empty. The office workers had already gone home, and the only ones still inside the building were the security guards and a few of the janitors who were still mopping up the floors.

As a security guard passed under an air vent on the fifty fourth floor, the vent above him quietly began to loosen, until ultimately it popped loose and began to fall from the ceiling. However before it could fall to the ground, two white gloves emerged from the air ducts, catching the metal vent. The gloved hands then pulled the vent into the shaft, and quietly rested it inside.

From the inside of the ventilation shaft, a woman clad in black leapt down, landing on the tiled floor in dead silence due to the soften pads on her shoes. After landing, the blonde haired woman quickly made her way behind a cubby in the side of the hallway, hiding as another security guard made his usual route.

The guard passed by, completely oblivious to the intruder that lurked only a few feet away from him. The woman could easily kill the guard in fourteen different ways; eight of them were completely silent, but her mission wasn't to leave a trail of blood, but to instead get in and get out without anyone being none the wiser.

Once the guard rounded a corner at the end of the corridor, the woman looked up to the vent she had entered through, and waved towards herself. Out from the ducts, a single, rather small, Magnimite descended towards her.

Once the electric and steel type was next to her, she quietly gave the Pokémon an order. "I need for you to short circuit the feed for the security cameras."

"Mag-namite." It's digitalized voice let out as a few sparks began to fly from the magnets on the side of its spherical body, shooting towards a nearby security camera, causing the device to erupt into a puff of smoke. In turn, Magnamite's current of electricity traversed through the entire system, shorting out the main security feed for all of the cameras in the building.

"Good job." The blonde whispered. "Now get out of here."

Without a word, the robotic Pokémon ascended back into the ventilation shaft; while she quietly sprinted down the hallways, knowing that the busted camera would soon warrant security's attention.

She darted down the darkened corridors like a racing shadow, her Olympic level of agility and finesse coming into play as she quietly dashed by the adjacent hallways, going completely unnoticed by the security personnel who patrolled the hallways.

_Where is it?_ She asked herself, looking over the labels on each door she passed by. She could hear the sound of footsteps coming from behind her, making their way towards her direction. Though judging by the slow, rhythmic pacing between each "_clack_", it was quite obvious that they were not pursuing her. However, they were still on the approach, and this hallway was coming to a dead end. She needed to find the door she was looking for as soon as possible, or otherwise be caught.

Despite the pressure that was being placed upon her, her heart rate remained slow, calm, composed. Then, just as she expected, once she reached the end of the hallway, there it was. _Archives._ The door was locked of course, and the lock was a digital one at that. However, this would prove to be no problem, as her plethora of devices and gadgets provided by Team Rocket could easily unlock the door.

She reached into her utility belt and grabbed an encrypter which was made exactly for this purpose. She pulled out the half-dollar sized device, and placed it over the blocky electronic lock. The gadget lit up, processing the data of the lock, once the data had been processed, the door unlocked.

The intruder opened the door and pulled the device off of the door and made her way into the archives, being sure to lock the door behind her.

The archives room was full of drawers and file cabinets; all of them labeled under the appropriate year they were filed. The blonde ran her gloved finger across the dates on the drawers and cabinets, searching for the current year.

After a moment of searching, she finally found it halfway down the line of drawers. She opened the cabinet, and ran her fingers over the numerous files until she finally came across the one she was looking for.

_Master League_. She cracked a small grin upon pulling out the file. She opened up the folder, revealing all sorts of logistics and legal forms that she didn't care to even give a second glance. The security information though, that was the prize.

She pulled out the piece of paper from the folder, and took a quick picture of it with her high resolution camera; making sure to get all of the information on the page. It was covered with details on security checkpoints and where guards would be stationed, as well as everything security related to the Master League Competition. It was quite invaluable information, especially for someone who might want to plan out a massive attack on the event.

"And that does it." Domino spoke, lowering the camera. Now that she had the information she came for, she returned the files and documents to their appropriate spots, leaving no trace that she was ever there. With that, she quickly made her exit, vanishing like a shadow in the night.

XXXXXXXXXX

Jessie stomped towards the sleeping blonde, showing no concern in awakening him. Upon rustling the bushes with her heavy pacing, the teen awaked from his sleep, and tiredly looked towards the scarlet haired woman.

"Who are you?" He seemed completely unconcerned with her presence.

"I could ask _you_ the same question." The fiery woman snapped. "You've been following those twerps for over a week now, and I want to know why!" Her hostility was obvious.

Zak rubbed his eyes, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. The woman standing before him appeared to be wearing a Team Rocket uniform, which only brought up more questions. "Look lady," He replied. "I don't know who you are, but I'm just doing my job." He threw her a look. "So get lost!"

A vein in Jessie's forehead began to bulge. "What did you say you little brat!?"

"Jessie!" James cried out, realizing that he was too late in stopping her. He ran up to his partner and grabbed her, pulling her to the side. "I'm sorry." He spoke in an apologetic tone, directing his words towards the confused teenager. "My friend here is just a little bit on the crazy side, so why don't you just forget you ever saw us, okay?"

The blue haired agent felt a blunt force hit the back of his head, knocking him over, and causing him to land square on his face. "Shut up James!" Jessie barked. "Let me handle this!"

At this point, Zak had gotten onto his feet, but was still completely bewildered by everything that was happening before him. "Look, I work for Team Rocket too." He nodded towards their uniforms. "So if you guys don't get lost, I'm going to sick my Pokémon after you." He seemed more agitated than angry.

"If you're with Team Rocket, then where's ya uniform?" Meowth quizzed, approaching the three.

"Is that a talking Meowth?" Now this was getting just too surreal, at this point Zak had figured he must have been dreaming.

"Answer the cat!" Jessie ordered. "If you're with Team Rocket, than why aren't you wearing a uniform?" She reiterated the question.

"Maybe I don't want to wear one if they're letting clowns like you wear them." Zak's snarky attitude was shining through.

"What did you say!?" Jessie's patience with him was long gone.

"You heard me." He showed no fear of Jessie's hostility.

"That's it!" She was done with the conversation. "Seviper, teach this little brat a lesson!" She tossed the poison type's Poké Ball, unleashing the malicious serpent.

"A Seviper?" Zak rolled his eyes. "Let me show you a _real_ Pokémon!" He reached for one of the red and white spheres on his belt. "Go Donphan!" Upon unleashing the elephant-like ground type, it let out a bellowing roar.

James bit down on his lip upon hearing the booming sound, certain that the noise would awaken Ash and Misty, completely blowing their cover. "Would you two keep it down?!" He pleaded, trying to salvage what was left of the mission.

His pleas went unheard as Jessie ordered her Pokémon to attack. "Seviper, use bind!"

"Pfft." The blonde was completely unfazed by her opponent's order. "Just use rollout." Heeding his master's orders, The ground type curled up into a wheel, and using all of its strength, rolled towards the snake with roaring force.

Seviper tried to counter by wrapping its long, slithery body around its opponent, but before he could get the chance, Donphan bulldozed over him, sending the snake flying across the air, and landing in front of Jessie. Before the battle had even really gotten started, it was already over.

"T..that's not fair!" Jessie screeched, running to aid her defeated Pokémon

"Ya know," Zak looked at the three. "I was going to let this go, but I'm going to have to call this in. Team Rocket doesn't need idiots like you in it."

Jessie, James, and Meowth all felt a pit arise in their stomachs. "D..did he say he was calling us in?" James asked sheepishly, believing the teens words.

Jessie felt just as worried, as this wasn't a threat that an imposter would normally make.

Zak picked up the radio he kept strapped to his belt, and spoke into it. "Domino."

As soon as he spoke that name, the three longtime Rocket agents felt the world end around them. Any shadow of a doubt that they may have had about Zak's affiliation with Team Rocket was instantly destroyed once Domino's name rang in their ears.

"Yeah?" Her voice replied over the speaker.

James and Meowth glared at Jessie, while the scarlet haired woman just stood there in disbelief.

"I've got two so called Rocket agents with a talking Meowth that've been causing me trouble." He spoke into the radio.

"WHAT!?" Her voice boomed from the speaker, causing Zak to cringe and pull the radio away from him.

Within a matter of seconds, the radio on Jessie's belt began to go off. "Jessie! James! Meowth!" Domino's voice was like needles against their eardrums. The scarlet haired woman looked over at James and Meowth, who were giving her a death glare. All she could do was hesitantly pick up the radio, and speak into in. "Y..y..yes, Domino?" She answered sheepishly.

"I gave you three _very_ specific orders!" She snarled. "I said specifically for you to just watch the Ketchum boy and his girlfriend, and to _not_ engage _anything_!"

"B..but we were…"

"Shut up, Jessie!" She was beyond livid. "You three are done with Team Rocket!"

Jessie, James, and Meowth went wide eyed. "Y..you can't be serious-"

"You better believe I'm serious!" She screeched. "You're fired!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Giovanni turned off the television screen, ending his conference call with the Team Rocket board members. The meeting had gone just as he expected. They tossed ideas back and forth regarding the operation, but more importantly the project that was to be started once the operation in the south had ended. All in all the meeting was more trivial than anything, as they all seemed to be on the same page, making the past hour and a half seem completely pointless.

The crime lord took a seat in his plush leather chair, leaning back in it as he soaked in the tranquility he found in the solitude of his dark office. Of course the solitude would have to be short lived, as he now had some other important business to attend to.

He reached for his office phone, and pulled it off of the receiver before punching in a phone number to the Hoenn area. He then waited patiently as the phone buzzed in his ear. After about three or four buzzes from the phone's speaker, there was finally an answer.

"Hello." The Rocket boss spoke. "It's me, Giovanni."

…

"Oh yes, me and the board members have talked it over." A smirk crossed the his face as he began to pet his Persian behind the ears.

…

"Of course they were more than happy to comply." He paused. "We believe with Team Rocket's funding, not only will we be able to work out all of the bugs in your research, but we could take it above and beyond; completely removing the limitations your projects once faced."

…

"Good." Giovanni let out a malicious chuckle. "I'm glad to hear you're on board."

…

"We will schedule a private flight for you, which should be arriving in Hoenn early tomorrow morning."

…

"I look forward to working with you as well." The Rocket boss's smirk became crooked and twisted.

…

"Of course." He paused for a moment, letting out another evil chuckle. "Goodbye, Doctor Young."

* * *

Like I said earlier, this will be the last we hear of Team Rocket for a while, because now its pretty much all about the Master League. Like I said, I want to apologize for this chapter being so below par. However I'm not going to make excuses because they don't fix problems, they only justify them.

However, I can promise you though, the next chapter is going to be MUCH better, I've had a lot of fun writing it, and I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun reading it.

Until tomorrow my friends, see ya!


	24. Rampage!

It feels soooo good to post two chapters in two days again (sorry if this one is being posted late though)

However this does come with some bad news. I have ANOTHER Thanksgiving dinner to go to tomorrow, so I probably won't get a chance to even work on the next chapter. So best case scenario is it'll get posted late on Monday, but more than likely Tuesday.

Anyways, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I guess you could call it filler, but I felt that we needed some lighthearted moments, especially with all that dreary Team Rocket stuff from the last chapter. So I guess you could also say this is another one of my impromptu chapters, but it's still a pretty fun ride.

But enough of me, enjoy!

* * *

"Will you hurry up, Ash?" The redhead groaned, looking back at her boyfriend.

The black haired trainer merely stuck out his tongue as he and his loyal Pikachu picked up the pace to catch up with the fiery redhead.

Misty rolled her eyes and let out a sigh of annoyance. Ash still had two gym battles to win, and there were only three and a half weeks until the Master League Competition officially started. The Sinnoh Top Four competitor was certain that he could get his last two badges in Zaffer City and Orchid City before the end of October. However what he hadn't taken into account though was that after Orchid City, they still had to get to Corsola Beach for the Master League Competition itself.

"Why do you have to be so bossy? I thought you liked spending time with me alone in the woods?" He gave her a playful wink.

The gym leader let out a quite apparent blush. However the redness in her face quickly transformed from embarrassment to fury. "Ketchum!" She snapped. "I'm trying to help you get into the Master League, and all you can think about is…" She stopped mid-sentence, trying to compose herself. Over the past few weeks, she had been trying to hold back her notorious temper around Ash, knowing that it wasn't exactly normal for couples to bicker as often as they did. "You're impossible." She uttered, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Oh c'mon Mist, I'm just playin'." He gave her an apologetic smile.

Misty let out a sigh, unable to stay frustrated with him for very long anymore. When they were younger she had always had a reason to be bickering with him, or just to be downright mean to the trainer. At first it was because he destroyed her bike, after that it was because she was furious that he was so oblivious to the feelings she had for him. Now though, she didn't have any real frustration to vent towards him anymore; aside from his childish attitude.

"Ash" She spoke. "You're an idiot…. A cute idiot, but an idiot nonetheless." She could still throw a few snarky comments his way in good fun though.

Ash snickered. "You're sweet."

Misty crossed her arms and let out a huff. "Just be happy I at least dignified you with a compliment."

"Yeah, sure, okay."

The two continued pace for a while, both of them carrying on casual conversation. They talked about various things from potential spots to hang out at, what they were looking forward to seeing in the next city, even bringing up the conversation from Ebonyville about what they would do after the Master League was over, this time in a much less doleful manner though.

For Misty, the latter of the subjects brought to mind the offer Ash had made regarding buying out the Cerulean City Gym. _Well now's as good a time as ever I guess._ She thought, knowing that it was a subject she had to bring up soon. "There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about, Ash." She looked over at him, her tone soft, yet serious.

"What is it Mist?" He faced her with a curious expression, waiting for her to continue.

"Well," She paused for a moment, thinking about how to approach this. Ultimately she decided the blunt approach was the best approach. "I don't want for you to take the prize money."

He gave her a slightly perplexed look. "Why?"

_Uggh, he just _had_ to ask. _"Because that's not what _you_ want." She replied in a surprisingly warm voice.

"But it is what I want." He spoke, giving her a slightly glum expression. "If I took the prize money then you wouldn't have to stay at the Cerulean Gym anymore, and we could keep traveling together. That is what you want, right?"

Misty had to bite down on her lip to hold herself back from saying 'Aww'. She truly did find the offer sweet and very flattering. However she could never bare to accept the offer. "I'd love to keep traveling with you Ash, I really would." Her words were solemn and true. "But if you gave up the chance to become a Pokémon Master just so you could get me out of my own responsibilities, I could never forgive myself."

"But you've even said before that you don't want to be a gym leader." Ash retorted.

She let out a sigh, knowing that she'd have to give him her _other_ reason for not wanting to accept his offer; her pride. "Ash, if you bought out the gym, no one would ever be able to take me seriously as a trainer."

He gave her a puzzled look. "Whaddya mean?"

"If you, my boyfriend," She had to specify on that point. "bought out the Cerulean City Gym, everybody associated with the Pokémon League would think I was just some moocher who couldn't handle her own duties as a Gym Leader."

"Oh." Ash had to let the words sink in for a moment before truly being able to comprehend how much of an impact that would have on her reputation as a Pokémon trainer. She was technically an employee of the Pokémon League, and as such carried a reputation with them that she had to live up to.

During his travels in Hoenn and Sinnoh, Ash and Misty had exchanged many phone calls, and in quite a few of those calls she had iterated how she was in such good standing with the Pokémon League. This was something she always wanted to maintain, especially since one of her biggest dreams was to one day make it onto the Elite Four as Kanto's official water master.

However, if her boyfriend just came out of nowhere and bought her out of being a gym leader, that would most certainly tarnish her reputation with the Pokémon League. It could even destroy all hopes she had of becoming a water master.

"I understand." Ash mumbled.

"Y…you do?" Her eyes widened a bit, taken back by his response.

"Yeah," the black haired trainer replied. "but if you ever need any help, all you have to do is ask." He placed his gloved hand around hers, and locked fingers with her. "You don't have to do everything alone, ya know?"

Misty threw a warm smile his way. "I know I don't." She let out a playful snicker. "Of course you can't even get out of bed without my help, so I don't know how much help you could possibly be to me."

The trainer cracked a grin, about to come back with a quick retort. However, he decided he'd just go in for a kiss instead.

The redhead's eyes widened a bit when Ash's lips locked with hers, not expecting it in the slightest. After a brief moment though, she closed her eyes and indulged herself in the warm kiss. It wasn't deep, but it was very strong and affectionate. The two wrapped their arms around one another, holding their bodies together as close as they could while their lips locked together, fitting perfectly with one another.

Pikachu let out a sigh, feeling like the third wheel in all of this.

The redhead took notice of this, and pulled her lips away from Ash's. "I think someone's a little upset." She nodded towards the yellow mouse's direction.

"Oh, I'm sorry Pikachu." His trainer uttered, feeling a bit embarrassed that he had not taken notice of his own Pokémon's discontent with being so overly exposed to his love life. "We'll just try to keep it to ourselves until you go to sleep buddy." He said jokingly.

"Pika." The rodent rolled his eyes.

The two teens let out a small laugh, still holding each other's bodies close to one another. Putting the joking aside though, they both came to a mutual agreement that they'd try to ease back on kissing so much in front of Pikachu, since it clearly made the Pokémon feel uncomfortable.

"Well if it isn't Ash Ketchum!" A voice with a southern twang reverberated from behind the three, bringing an abrupt end to the sweet moment.

"That voice…" Ash pulled himself away from his girlfriend, and looked towards the origin of the voice. Upon seeing who it was, a large grin spread across the trainer's face.

About four or five yards away from Ash and Misty, stood a short guy with spiky green hair. His cheeks were faintly covered with dirt and sand, and next to him stood a Sandslash that was a little over half his trainer's height; an impressive size for such a Pokémon.

"A.J.!" The trainer from Pallet couldn't forget one of the first people he had ever met during his travels in Kanto.

"Oh, hi A.J.." Misty was quite surprised by the appearance of the trainer from Kanto. "I didn't know you were here."

He let out a small laugh before greeting the two trainers. "It's been a long time. Are you here for the Master League too?" He asked as he and Sandslash made their approach to the two teens and the Pikachu.

"Y..yeah." Ash was trying to wrap his mind around seeing his one time rival. Though their rivalry was very brief, it was a rivalry none the less. "I don't remember seeing you at Crestpeak?"

He shrugged. "I didn't see you either."

"Well, we're all together now, so I guess that's what matters." Misty spoke.

A.J. cracked a grin. "I guess you're right about that."

"Hey," The black haired trainer's eyes lit up as an idea entered his mind. "why don't you join us?"

"Um… Ash," Misty spoke sweetly. "I'm sure A.J. and Sandslash would much rather travel by themselves." She paused. "You know, especially with how much we argue." The redhead was trying her best to subtly hint that she preferred for it to just be the two of them, as anybody else would just be a third wheel.

"Oh, I'm sure A.J. won't mind."

_Idiot._ Misty turned to A.J., biting down on her lip to help her resist the urge to smack her boyfriend on the back of the head for his obliviousness. "I don't think you'd like to travel with us. We'll probably slow you down anyways." She painted a smile on her face, trying to sound sincere.

The green haired trainer shook his head. "It's not a problem, we're all goin' to the same place anyways." He looked down at his loyal partner. "Ain't that right, Sandslash?"

"Slash" The ground type replied.

"Hey, is that the same Sandshrew from when we met back in Kanto?" The trainer from Pallet chimed in.

"Oh yeah." A.J. replied. "back in…."

Misty tuned herself out of the conversation, sighing. _One day I'm going to teach him the art of subtlety._ The gym leader watched on as the two did some catching up, going back and forth about some of their past battles and adventures. She figured it would only be a matter of time until the idea of a battle crossed their minds.

She looked behind her and saw a large boulder covered in brush that she could lean against as she waited for the two to finish their little conversation. It was a bit of a shame really, she had been looking forward to spending the next couple days with it being just her and Ash. His birthday was coming up next week, and she had been trying to pry ideas for potential gifts from him. Of course with how void he was in understanding subtle questions, anything short of 'What do you want for your birthday?' would go unanswered.

"Hey, how about a battle?" Ash finally asked, seeming quite ecstatic about the idea.

"Pika pi!" His yellow friend was just as excited.

_Here we go again._ The redhead looked up at the friendly battle that was about to take place, resting her back against the boulder. This was about the fourth or fifth battle he'd gotten into in the past week. Normally the battles themselves didn't last that long, but of course Ash and whoever he was battling would have to spend the next hour or so going back and forth talking about their battling techniques and strategies.

Misty loved Pokémon, and she loved Pokémon battles. However, they were on a schedule. Ash had seemingly forgotten that if he didn't have all eight badges by the time the first of November came around, then that meant no Master League for him. _Wasn't I just thinking about this?_ She shook her head, realizing that she was going in mental circles. "Ash, let's make this quick!" She barked. "We still have to get two more gym badges!"

"Okay, okay." The trainer motioned his arm towards her direction. "Jeez, do ya have to be so pushy?" He mumbled the last sentence.

"What was that, Ketchum?!"

"Nothing."

"That's what I thought." She let out a huff, resting the back of her head against the boulder while Ash and A.J. prepared to battle with their signature Pokémon. At least it would be an interesting battle. Pikachu would be at a disadvantage, but it would at least allow for the rodent to hone his physical skills since he couldn't rely on his electric abilities in this battle.

This thought was brought to an abrupt end as she felt the boulder she was leaning against budge a bit. She quickly lifted her back from the boulder, and turned towards it, thinking that it was about to roll over. What she saw though was certainly not what she expected. It seemed that the large grey mass was beginning to... move?

"Ash!" Misty screeched, getting his and A.J.'s attention.

The smooth rock began to pull itself out from the brush and shrubbery around the base of it. As it did so, it revealed its arms, legs, and tail. Finally, it uncoiled its head from being tucked into its chest. As soon as it revealed its face, its giant horn shimmered under the sunlight. Before the three trainers stood one of the largest Rhydons any of them had ever seen in their lives. It stood at eight, almost nine feet tall, and it looked as angry as it did intimidating.

"Misty, get away from him!" Ash cried out.

Had she been given time to think, she'd have reached for her Poké Ball and just thrown Politoad out and he'd just give the ground and rock type a hydro pump to put it in its place. However, all she could think about at the moment was just getting out of reach of the monstrous drill Pokémon.

It let out a bellowing roar as Misty made distance between her and the Pokémon, expressing its discontent with being awakened from its slumber.

Pikachu and Sandslash, without being given an order, ran between Misty and the Rhydon, cutting off the furious Pokémon from the gym leader.

"Pikachu," Ash called his Pokémon's name.

"Sandslash," A.J. called out to his.

"Volt Tackle!"

"Rollout!"

Pikachu dashed towards the gigantic ground type, an electric shield encircling him. The massive Rhydon tried to take a swipe at the electric Pokémon, but the mouse's speed was too fast for him. However, when the electric based attack came into contact with the ground type's hard belly, it did nothing more than cause him to stumble back a little bit, the powerful surge of electricity having practically no effect.

This did prove beneficial though, as it aloud for the hedgehog-like Pokémon to follow up with a rollout attack, smashing the hard spikes on his back against Rhydon. Once again though, the attack was relatively ineffective, but it did cause the massive Pokémon to stumble back a few more feet; giving Misty enough time to get behind Ash and A.J..

"You're never going to beat him like that!" She snapped at the two "_experienced_" trainers for using ineffective attacks against the monstrosity.

"Well Mist, incase you didn't realize this, we were trying to buy you time to get out!" Ash spat.

"Well you still could have tried using something like oh, I don't know?…. Iron tail!"

Ash threw a glare at his girlfriend. "I..I had to think fast!" He felt a bit embarrassed for not thinking of that, as the steel type move could have knocked Rhydon right off his feet.

"Well maybe that dimwitted brain of yours needs to start thinking faster than that stupid mouth can talk!"

"Hey! I'm not dimwitted!"

"Yes you are!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Uh, hey you guys?" A.J.'s voice was a bit shaky.

"What?!" Ash and Misty shot at the green haired trainer.

"We might wanna start runnin' about now." He pointed towards the massive grey Pokémon that had lowered its head and begun rushing towards the group with his horn drill spinning. Pikachu and Sandslash were right ahead of him, dashing back to their masters, as they knew they stood no chance in a test of strength against the massive ground and rock type.

Thinking fast, Misty quickly tossed a Poké Ball from her belt, unleashing Politoad.

"Politoad politoad." He clapped his hands cheerfully upon his release.

"Politoad, quick!" There was no time for her to explain what was going on. "Hit Rhydon with bubblebeam!" The frog opened his mouth, and unleashed a barrage of bubbles towards the furious Rhydon, hitting him square in the stomach.

It bellowed in pain as the super effective attack made contact with him. This gave Pikachu and Sandslash ample time to return to their masters side. However, the massive Rhydon remained standing, somehow withstanding Politoad's water attack.

"That's one tough Rhydon." Ash gulped.

A.J. threw a smirk towards Ash and Misty. "Me and Sandslash have got this." He looked down at his longtime friend, and gave him a nod. "Use fissure!"

Misty's face turned white. "No, A.J.! Not while Sandslash is standing right next to u-"

Before her words could even be spoken, Sandslash stomped his foot on the ground, creating a crack that traveled towards the massive drill Pokémon. However, it also caused a crack to form around A.J., Ash, and Misty.

The redhead was quick to jump out of the way along with Politoad, as they had already seen this coming. The other two trainers and their Pokémon however, were still standing there, completely oblivious to what was going on under their feet.

The fissure attack was a success though, as the crevice opened up right under Rhydon's feet, sending him plummeting down below. However, the fracture in the earth also opened up around Ash and A.J..

"Ash!" Misty ran over to her boyfriend as the ground gave way, causing the green haired trainer and his Sandslash to fall through the crack and into the darkness, while Ash tried to make a break for it with Pikachu clenched onto his jacket.

"Misty!" The trainer from Pallet screamed, reaching out for her, his hand just unable to reach far enough. Letting out a scream, he and Pikachu plummeted into the darkness bellow, just like A.J, Sandslash,. and Rhydon.

"No!" The gym leader screeched, watching her boyfriend vanish into the darkness, the last thing she could see was Ash's hand still extended as it vanished into the shadows of the depths of the earth.

Shortly after Ash vanished from site, she could hear a loud "_thud"_ followed by an "Ow!"

"Oh thank god." She whispered to herself, at least knowing that Ash wasn't killed by the fall. "Ash! A.J.! Pikachu!" The redhead screamed into the crevice, her voice echoing. "Can you hear me?" She tilted her head sideways after speaking, trying to get her ear as close to them as possible.

"Yeah." Ash groaned.

"Me and Sandslash are alright."

"Pika!"

Misty let out a sigh of relief. "Good!" She yelled into the darkness. "Ash, do you think you can use Pidgeot to fly you and A.J. out of there?"

There was a brief moment of silence before he finally replied. "No." There was another pause. "It's too narrow through here."

The gym leader cursed under her breath, knowing that there wasn't a police station or anything like that for miles. And with Pidgeot in the caverns, there was no way she could send him out to get help either. "Well don't worry!" She spoke, her voice echoing into the caverns. "I'll get you out of there!"

"That might not be necessary." A.J. replied. "I was talkin' to a lady in the last town, and she said that these caverns all empty out at a waterfall somewhere around here.

_Okay,_ She thought. _well at least I know they can get out of there, but how am I going to find this waterfall?_ "Alright." Misty replied. "I don't know where this waterfall is, but I'll try to find it and meet you guys there." Her voice was a bit shaky.

"Misty." Ash's voice echoed from the caverns.

"Yeah?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." There was a pause. "I promise."

_I certainly hope so._ The redhead felt a tinge of worry fill her stomach.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Pikachu, use flash." Ash commanded the rodent. A bright light emitted from the electric mouse's cheek pouches, illuminating the entire cavern with the brilliant light.

"Pika pikachu." The mouse smiled, looking up at his master as a steady stream of sparks emitted from his red pouches.

"Good thinkin'." A.J. nodded towards the trainer. "Now let's get outta here."

The black haired trainer replied with a nod before starting down the cavernous grotto with A.J. and the two Pokémon following closely behind him. "So how've ya been?" Ash inquired, trying to ease the tension as they looked for the exit.

"Good" he replied. "After I won my one hundredth victory, I went and got all of my badges before goin' into the Pokémon League." He paused "After makin' it to the top thirty two, I went to Hoenn."

"Cool." The trainer from Pallet looked over at the green haired teen. "What did ya do after that?"

"I went to the Ever Grande and the Silver Conference." He paused. "Just recently I went back the Indigo League, and now here I am. What about you?"

Ash let out a chuckle, more than happy to share his six years worth of stories. Had A.J. known that the trainer was about to talk his ear off for the next thirty to forty minutes, he would have probably withheld himself from even asking in the first place.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Azumarill, I choose you!" Misty sent out the water rabbit, knowing that her incredible sense of hearing would prove useful.

"Azu" She cried out joyously upon her release, patiently awaiting for her orders.

"Azumarill, I need for you to listen for running water." She spoke, recalling back to Tracy using similar tactics back on the Orange Isles with his Marill. However, unlike Tracy's Marill, Azumarill had a far better since of hearing. One time the Pokémon had even led Misty all the way from Cerulean Gym to Route 24, where there was an injured Rattata crying for help. With hearing like that, the gym leader was confident that she could lead her to Ash and A.J..

"Azu marill." Her long ears perked up and began to listen in for the sound of rushing water. After a moment or two of looking around with her ears turning like little radars, the Pokémon started hopping in place, pointing westwards.

"Great job!" The redhead praised. "Lead the way." With a nod of acknowledgment, the water type took off, leading her master towards the river, and hopefully to Ash.

XXXXXXXXXX

A.J. had pretty much completely tuned out Ash after he started talking about his adventures in Hoenn. It was nice to see the trainer again, but after about thirty minutes in this cave with him, he remembered why he found him so annoying all those years ago.

"And then May's Torchick evolved into a Combusken…"

The green haired trainer rolled his eyes. _Does he ever stop talking?_ Sandslash seemed to agree, letting out a sigh as the black haired trainer continued rambling on about his past journeys.

"Now let me tell you about the Battle Fronti-"

"Rrrrraaarrggh!"

The two trainers and their Pokémon halted the second they heard the booming roar echo from behind them. All four of them turned towards the darkness and began to hold their breath, afraid to see what the roar belonged to.

"Do you think that was…." Ash's voice was shaking.

"I think we'd better…." Before A.J. could finish speaking, the ground began to shake as a series of heavy stomps began to grow louder and louder with each vicious clop. Then from out of the darkness, the ferocious Rhydon stampeded towards them, letting out another bloodcurdling roar as his horn drill began to spin, letting out a menacing "_Zzzzzzing_".

"Run!" Ash screamed, finishing A.J.'s sentence. The four took off down the cavern, trying to outrun the furious ground and rock type. However, its impressive speed was far more than a match for them, and he was quickly closing in on the fleeing group.

"Ash!" A.J. painted, sensing that Rhydon was about to catch up with them. "I don't think its is workin'!"

"No kidding," He replied, trying to keep his breathing calm so he didn't exhaust himself. "It looks like we'll have to fight!" Without saying anything else, All four of them came to a halt, A.J. ready to give his Sandslash a command, while Ash took hold of Totodile's Poké Ball. "Totodile, I choose you!"

"Toto totodile!" He cheered upon release. However, when he saw the Rhydon stomping towards him, he quickly realized now as not the time for fun and games.

"Sandslash," A.J. pointed towards the charging Rhydon. "Use gyro ball!" The hedgehog-like Pokémon jumped into the air and began spinning towards the rock type, while a shimmering blue light surrounded his spinning form. Sandslash hit hard into opponent's belly with the steel attack, knocking Rhydon back a few feet. Despite its effectiveness though, the massive drill Pokémon did nothing more than grunt and stumble back a bit.

"Totodile, use hydro pump!" The little reptile opened his mouth and unleashed a barrage of water towards the ground and rock type, crashing into its face, and sending the enraged Rhydon stumbling back a few more feet.

"He doesn't wanna go down, does he?" The green haired trainer bit down on his lip. Not many Pokémon could take two super effective attacks head on like that, and he looked like he could take on a lot more.

Ash balled up his fist, trying to think fast as the massive ground type began to snap out of his daze. Ash was sure that Totodile and Sandslash could take down the Pokémon, but due to the limitations of their claustrophobic environment, there was no way they could stop him before he bulldozed over all five of them. He looked away from the soaking wet Rhydon, and then at his electric friend. "Do you think you can stop em', Pikachu?"

"Cha!" He was ready for battle.

"Alright, use thunder wave!" Blue sparks shot out from his cheek pouches, zapping the doused Pokémon with the paralyzing waves of electricity. Rhydon's expression transformed from one of fury to one of shock as he felt his entire body lock in position due to the electricity coursing through the water covering his body.

"Now lets get outta here!" A.J. looked over at Ash and his Pokémon. They all nodded in agreement before the entire group took off down the cavern, not wanting to stick around for when Rhydon finally dried off.

The caverns were not as labyrinth-like as they had first suspected they'd be. The caves seemed to be leading them on a pretty linear path, and as they trekked through the caverns, the sound of rushing water became more and more apparent.

"A.J., I think we're almost out!"

"Pika pi!"

"Don't get excited just yet." The green haired trainer uttered as he quickly took a look back to see that Rhydon had shaken off the paralysis, and was returning to his pursuit of the group.

He let out another furious roar as his drill began to spin once more.

"Jeez, does he ever give up?" Ash painted. "Totodile, use another hydro pump!" He ordered while continuing his sprint through the cavern.

The water type leapt up into the air and opened his snout, unleashing another powerful blast of water. When the stream of water smashed into his stomach, its force launched him off of his feet, and knocked him onto his back. Even so, the monstrosity was still trying to pull himself back up.

The sound of running water now sounded like it was just around the corner. Sure enough, as the group took a hard left turn, they could see the beams of the sun's rays peaking into the cave, while a steady flow of water cascaded over the exit.

XXXXXXXXXX

Misty kept pace with her Pokémon, following Azumarill as she led her master up the river, towards the waterfall. They had been running for almost two and a half miles now. However, the sound of crashing water began to ring through the gym leader's ears, signifying that their destination was close by.

"I think I see it!" Misty panted, catching view of the small waterfall off in the distance. However, she felt her heart begin to sink when she saw that Ash and A.J. were not there to meet her. The prospect that they had gotten lost in the caverns began running through her mind. _Please be okay, Ash._

Once Azumarill came to a stop, so did Misty. The redhead paused to catch her breath, breathing heavily as she waited by the waterfall. "If Ash…." She took a second to catch her breath. "doesn't show up soon…" She turned towards Azumarill. "We're going in there… Okay?"

"Azu." the blue rabbit replied.

"Misty!" A familiar disembodied voice cried out from the waterfall.

The redhead's eyes lit up. "Ash! Is that you?" She jumped into the knee deep river and began running towards the waterfall to meet up with her boyfriend.

"Misty!" He cried again, the voice much louder than before.

"I'm right here, Ash!" She felt a joyous warmth in her stomach, filling her with glee. She ran up to the waterfall and extended her arms, ready to embrace Ash and Pikachu the second they finally crossed the threshold.

"Run!" The black haired trainer screamed the second he, A.J., Pikachu, Sandslash, and Totodile busted out from behind the wall of water.

Misty lowered her arms and raised an eyebrow, perplexed by Ash's words. "Run?" Before she could wait for an explanation though, the massive Rhydon rushed out from the waterfall, following closely behind the fleeing group. "Ahh!" She screamed, not expecting to be greeted by the massive Pokémon from earlier. "Azumarill, use bubblebeam!"

"Azu!" The rabbit pulled her head back and inhaled. Upon exhaling, she let out a stream of bubbles directed at the grey Pokémon. The bubbles exploded against Rhydon's chest, he let out a roar of pain, but still stood strong.

"That's it!" The trainer from Pallet had had enough of this Pokémon. "Totodile, give him everything you've got!"

"Azumarill, help out Totodile!

"And Sandslash, use focus blast!"

All three Pokémon unleashed their powerful attacks. Totodile and Azumarill firing a devastating dual hydro pump, while Sandslash unleashed a powerful blue ball of light from his claws. All three attacks hit square against the monstrous Pokémon, letting out another cry of pain as he endured the three attacks. After the focus blast had exploded upon contact, Ash and Misty called off their Pokémon's attacks, knowing that Rhydon had to be finished. Once the powerful blasts of water died down though, by some miracle Rhydon was still managing to stand his ground. Though the fatigue of battle had clearly taken its toll on the ground and rock type.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Ash was on the brink of throwing a temper tantrum. While Misty, A.J., and the Pokémon could do nothing more than just look on completely dumbfounded by Rhydon's amazing resilience and durability. "This'll stop you!" The black haired trainer grabbed an empty Poké Ball and flung it towards the gargantuan Pokémon.

The red and white sphere hit the weakened Pokémon square in the forehead, causing him to become engulfed in a red light as the Poké Ball pulled him inside. The red light on the center of the orb began to glow brightly, while the Poké Ball itself started to shake violently. It was easy to tell that there was absolutely no way Rhydon was going to stay inside. Ash groaned as he reached for another Poké Ball, but then something unexpected happened; the Poké Ball ceased the shaking, and the red light vanished, followed by a "_dong_".

The trainer's eyes lit up, overjoyed that the Pokémon was finally out of his hair, but even happier that he had caught such a powerful Pokémon. "I caught a Rhydon!" He cried out as the Poké Ball vanished, teleporting to Professor Oak's lab.

"Correction," Misty spoke up. "_we _caught a Rhydon."

"Azumarill!" Her Pokémon backed her up.

A.J. and Sandslash merely let out a sigh, just happy that the Rhydon wasn't going to be chasing them down anymore.

"Hey, Totodile did _way_ more work than Azumarill!" The trainer snapped at his girlfriend. "So _I _caught it!"

"Even if that were true, you wouldn't have stood a chance out there if it wasn't for our help!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

A.J. and Sandslash both exchanged looks as the couple continued bickering. "I think we should get out of here." The green haired trainer spoke.

"Slash." He nodded in agreement. Though at first they both thought that their bickering couldn't be _that _bad, they found that Misty was right; there was absolutely no way they could stick around if it meant having to listen to this constantly. So with that, the two then began to silently go on their way, not wanting to draw attention upon themselves.

"Nuh uh!" Ash spat, not letting the argument go.

"Uh huh!" Misty wasn't going to let it go either.

"Nuh uh!"

"Uh huh!"

"Nu u…." He stopped to look around the woods. "Where did A.J. and Sandslash go?"

Misty forgot all about the argument, and looked around the woods, completely clueless as to where the trainer had gone to as well. "I don't know."

"Pika…" The electric mouse sighed, shaking his head.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Hey Professor Oak," Tracy called to his mentor. "It looks like Ash is sending in another Pokémon."

"Oh really?" The elderly professor was quite intrigued to see what else Ash was going to send in to him. "I certainly hope its as interesting as that Mismagnius." He made his way over to the teleporter, awaiting for the Poké Ball to appear in the device.

With a brilliant flash, the red and white orb appeared in the dome shaped slot of the teleporter. As soon as it arrived, Oak eagerly picked up the sphere and tossed it onto the ground. Tracy walked over to the professor's side and watched as the Poké Ball opened up, and unleashed a brilliant red light that danced across the lab, taking form of the Pokémon that rested inside.

"Rrrraaaaaaarrrgh!" The massive Rhydon bellowed upon its release.

"Oh my goodness!" Oak cried out, running across the lab, as far away as he could get from the angered Pokémon.

"He looks really upset!" Tracy exclaimed, running across the lab just as the professor had.

"Don't bring him over here, Tracy!" Oak screamed, waving towards all of the expensive equipment that the Pokémon could break. "Get the stun ball!"

"I think we're going to need more than a stun ball, Professor." Tracy gulped as the massive ground and rock type let out a furious roar, smashing his tail against a desk, destroying the computer and all of the contents around it. Ash had sent in some Pokémon that could be hard to handle at times, but never had he ever sent in one quite like this one.

* * *

Well I hope you guys enjoyed that. Originally I wasn't going to have Ash capture Rhydon, but at the last minute I changed my mind.

Also I hope you enjoyed A.J.'s guest appearance. Also it wouldn't be spoiling anything if I told you we'll see him again in future chapters.

As for what's next? Well up next is the 7th gym battle, after that we'll have a cute little Ash and Misty chapter (it might be shortish), then we're jumping straight to the final gym leader, after that we'll have a chapter introducing the Master League, and after that... The tournament begins!

You have no idea how psyched I am, I have been looking forward to these chapters so much, and I hope you enjoy them.

Till Monday (or Tuesday), see ya!


	25. Here be Dragons

I'm sorry this one is so late, I wanted to finish going over this chapter yesterday, but I was sick as a dog, but you don't want to hear about that.

Alright, this one is probably my favorite gym battle chapter so far, not necessarily because of the battle though. Anyways, this one starts out a bit slow, but it picks up pace pretty quickly, and I feel that it has a pretty good payoff in the end.

To put it short; I hesitantly will say I think this is a pretty good chapter. If you guys are familiar with my past author's notes, you probably know that I don't say that often if that means anything.

Enjoy!

* * *

After their little misadventure with Rhydon, Ash and Misty had finally found their way to the beautiful coastal town, Zaffer City. All of the town's major buildings sat along a light blue ocean bay to the west, while a towering mountain to the east cradled the city at its base. Though the tourists had long since died down with October drawing to a close in two weeks, the city seemed quite lively.

"Well we're here, but where's the gym?" The black haired trainer asked the Cerulean Gym Leader as they made their way down the crowded streets.

"You're really eager to get your next badge, aren't you?" Misty threw a look at the trainer.

"Of course I am!" Ash stopped in his tracks, causing Misty and Pikachu to stop as well. "There's only two weeks before the Master League starts, and I need to get my last two badges, fast!"

The redhead let out a sigh. It wasn't but a few days ago she was telling him the exact same thing, but all he'd reply with was something along the lines of _"Don't worry, I'll get them in time." _or _"There's no need to rush."_, well he was regretting his procrastination now.

"Well," Misty spoke. "if you're having such a hard time finding the gym, why don't you just ask somebody where the gym is at?"

"Uh… Mist?" He pointed behind her, his eyebrows slightly raised, showing a hint of surprise. "I don't think that'll be necessary."

"Why?" She turned around to see that they had both somehow walked right by a gigantic, blue, circular building which was decorated with a Salamence atop of the gym, similar to how the Cerulean City Gym was decorated with a Dewgong atop of it. If that wasn't obvious enough though, under the Salamence was a sign that read 'Gym'. "Oh," She uttered. "I guess you're right."

The two proceeded into the blue building, both of them anxious to see who the next gym leader was going to be. However if the Salamence atop the roof was any indication, the two teens had a pretty good idea as to who the gym leader might be.

"Altaria!" A rough, grizzled voice boomed from down the hallway of the gym's entrance, startling Ash, Misty, and Pikachu. "Use sky attack!" After this, they could hear a crashing sound coming from behind the door at the end of the long hall.

"It looks like a battle's already started!" The trainer from Pallet could hardly contain his excitement. "Let's go check it out!" Before he even waited for a reply from Misty, the trainer and his Pikachu shot down the hallway, not turning up the chance to see the gym leader and a Master League competitor in action.

Upon ramming the dual doors open, Ash and Pikachu crossed the threshold between the hall and the battlefield, Misty following closely behind. On the gym leader's side of the field was an Altaria. The blue bird was mid flight, boasting its large, beautiful cloud-like wings. On the challenger's side was an Armaldo. Its steel-like exoskeleton plating shimmered under the gym's lights, giving a metallic look to the rock and bug type. The Pokémon's blank red eyes beamed directly at its flying opponent, giving the dragon type what Ash and Misty could only assume was a death glare.

Ash took a moment to avert his eyes from the battle for a moment to see who the trainers were. On the challengers side was the long haired man in the black trench coat. _Damian._ Ash mentally noted, recognizing him from Crestpeak and Rubyville. On the other side was a shirtless man with a long white mustache, wearing a black duster with a yellow Poké Ball emblem on the right breast of the jacket, and atop his head sat a white sailors cap that was tilted down just enough to cover his eyes from view.

"Drake!" Ash exclaimed, overjoyed to finally cross paths with the Elite Four member once again. Drake didn't acknowledge Ash's call though, keeping his focus entirely on the battle.

"Ash!" Misty hissed. "Don't interrupt the battle!"

"It's okay," He let a smile cross his face. "Nothing ever distracts Drake from a Pokémon battle." He replied.

"Armaldo, use metal claw!" Damian seemed a little bit more on edge than normal. Perhaps the battle had been a bit tougher than the veteran trainer expected it to be. The fossil Pokémon hesitated for not one second, leaping towards the dragon type with his enormous claw shimmering as a layer of steel coated around it.

"Altaria, shroud yourself with mist!" Drake sounded just as on edge. The blue bird-like Pokémon opened its beak and unleashed a stream of icy vapor, shrouding itself from Armaldo's vision, though it didn't slow down his attack in the slightest.

The plate Pokémon took a swing into the mist, hoping to get a hit in on his opponent, though the only thing his claws were able to connect with was empty air. Damian made a scowl, realizing that his opponent had escaped him for the moment.

"Dragon Pulse!" Drake's grizzled voice reverberated through the gym.

Damian looked above the mist to see that Altaria had flown up high, and was now charging up a green ball of energy from its beak. "Armaldo, rock blast, directly above you!" The rock type held out his two claws as three light blue rings began encircling his body. As the rings started to spin, they began to form into sharp, jagged rocks. Once the rocks formed, he raised his arms towards Altaria, sending all of the stones projecting towards the flying type. Completely taken back by surprise, Altaria couldn't fire dragon pulse fast enough to counter it. This allowied for the series of rocks to smash into its blue body, causing the bird to come crashing to the ground.

Drake gazed at his fainted Pokémon. "I must admit, I'm impressed." He sounded like he almost hated to say it. "You win." The sailor reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge. However it was too far away for Ash or Misty to get a good glimpse of what it looked like. He then tossed the badge across the battlefield, Damian catching it with one hand.

"Thanks." He replied plainly, void of any sincerity. Without another word, he returned Armaldo and proceeded past Ash and Misty, not even giving them the slightest bit of acknowledgment. Once he crossed the corridor leading to the hallway, the doors slammed shut behind him.

The two teens were slightly dumbfounded by his abruptness. He acted like this victory was so trivial and meaningless. He had just defeated _the_ Drake, the dragon master of Hoenn. Yet Damian acted as though it was nothing more than winning a battle against some rookie.

"What a jerk." Ash growled. "He can at least show a little bit of respect!"

Misty turned to her boyfriend, about to speak. However, a grizzled voice interjected before she had the chance to say anything.

"Ash Ketchum?" The two teens and the Pikachu turned to the sailor. Drake began to make his way towards the trainers, his boots clodding against the metallic floor of the battlefield with each step he took. "It's been a long time, my friend." He extended his arm and shook the young trainer's hand.

"It has." He replied. "This is Misty, she's a really good friend of mine." He nodded his head towards the redhead standing next to him. Though neither of them noticed, the gym leader was carrying a somewhat timid expression. Though Drake seemed nice enough, his presence was rather daunting. By appearance alone he was an intimidating man, but his voice is what really sealed the deal for the girl. He sounded like he had just smoked a carton of cigarettes. This did seem very plausible though, since Misty could recall back to a Pokémon magazine she'd read a few years prior which featured Drake in the main article. And in about every single picture of the Elite Four Member, it showed him holding a tobacco pipe between his teeth. Though he might've quit at some point, as she didn't recall seeing him with his pipe ever since, nor could she smell the slightest hint of tobacco on him.

"I…it's nice to meet you, Drake."

"Ah," The veteran trainer let out a hoarse chuckle before speaking again. "You're that Waterflower girl from Cerulean City, aren't you?"

"Y..y..yes sir." He showed no ill will towards her, yet she still felt a bit frightened by him.

"I remember seeing your sisters about four years ago when they were in Hoenn." The sailor spoke. "I must say though, you're most certainly the prettiest of the Waterflower sisters."

The redhead gave a faint blush, more from embarrassment than anything. "That's very nice of you to say." Misty started to feel a _bit_ more comfortable after the comment, but his presence still daunted her.

Ash let a faint grin escape him upon hearing that his girlfriend's looks were taken into such high revere. "So Drake," He brought the gym leader's attention back to him. "how about a battle?"

The sailor shook his head. "Sorry Ash, but after that battle all I have is one Pokémon left." He paused. "Why don't you go with me to the Pokémon Center, and after my Pokémon get healed up we'll have our battle?"

"Sounds great!" The trainer was more than happy to accept the offer, as it probably wouldn't hurt for his Pokémon to take a rest too. "Lead the way."

XXXXXXXXXX

The Zaffer City Pokémon Center was almost completely empty aside from the Chanceys running around, fulfilling miscellaneous errands that needed to be done around the Center. Drake had stepped outside for a moment, saying he'd be back in a bit. This finally gave Ash the chance to call the professor and see how his Rhydon was fairing.

"Hello?" The elderly Professor Oak spoke into the receiver, appearing on the television screen. He looked very tired. His eyes were darkened, his wrinkles were much more apparent, and he just looked all around exhausted.

"Hey Professor Oak!" Ash's excitement was polarizing to Oak's. "I just wanted to check in and see how Rhydon was doing."

Oak cringed the second the name was mentioned. "He's…. quite a handful." He let out an insincere chuckle.

Misty peered over Ash's shoulder, chiming in on the conversation. "That's not surprising."

"Yeah Professor, it took Totodile, Azumarill, _and_ a Sandslash to capture him!" Ash exclaimed into the phone, proud of his capture.

"You don't say?" Oak wasn't the least bit surprised by this. To put the massive Pokémon back in his Poké Ball, the professor had to use his Dragonite to hold Rhydon down while Tracey's Venomoth doused it in enough sleep powder to put a Wailord out of commission.

"So how is he, anyways?" Ash pushed his question from earlier.

"Oh he's fine now." The professor replied. "He's locked up in the pi-"

"Professor Oak!" Tracey's voice exclaimed, coming out of the video phone's speakers. The green haired Pokémon Watcher skidded into view behind the researcher, seeming to be in quite a rush. "Rhydon busted out of the pin and tore down the Tauros' fence! Now we've got an angry Rhydon _and_ a heard of stampeding Tauros!"

Oak's eyes widened in shock. "Get Venomoth to lead the Butterfree, and put the Tauros to sleep, I'll take care of Rhydon!" He turned back to the screen, facing Ash and Misty. "Sorry, but I've got to go. Good luck in your battle against Drake!" Before they could even reply, the monitor cut to black.

"Well," Misty threw a look at Ash. "it looks like you might have another Charizard on your hands."

The second her words entered his ears, the trainer wanted to puke. "I hope not." He sighed.

"Mismagius, get back here right now!" A feminine voice shouted, catching Ash and Misty's attention.

The two teens turned around and faced the front desk to see that Ash's ghost type was gracefully fluttering around the room, being pursued by Nurse Joy and a team of Chanceys. "Magius." She sang blissfully, spinning around as her ghostly form floated around the Pokémon Center.

"Mismagius!" Ash barked. "Now's not the time to play!" He shot up from his chair and quickly tried to calm down the playful Pokémon.

Misty sat down in the chair Ash got up from, and leaned back with a smirk across her face. She watched on as her boyfriend, Nurse Joy, and the team of Chancey's chased down the ghost type. This had been a reoccurring thing ever since Ash caught her. Whenever she was left out of her Poké Ball, she'd start to play and couldn't sit still for more than a minute. However, when it was time to train or battle, she would be quick to compose herself and follow Ash's orders to the tee

While the black haired trainer continued to chase after the ghost type, Drake reentered the Pokémon Center. The second the Elite Four Member stepped onto the linoleum floor, Mismagius instantly dashed to his side and began to nuzzle his cheek. "Well," The sailor let out a hoarse chuckle. "you're a sweet one." He said as he scratched her chin, causing the Pokémon to let out a joyous squeal.

While Ash approached the sailor, Misty could smell the scent of cigarettes and tobacco fill her nostrils. _I guess he didn't quit smoking after all._

"Of course she'll sit still for _you_." Ash griped before returning Mismagius to her Poké Ball, and then handing it back to Nurse Joy.

"I've seen a lot of Pokémon like her." Drake looked down at the trainer. "They can be quite a handful sometimes."

"You're telling me." Ash mumbled.

"At least she's not as bad as Charizard." The redhead rested her head on Ash's shoulder, speaking in a sing-song voice.

"Why do you keep bringing up Charizard?" Ash threw a glare at his girlfriend. "He's trained now!"

"Ah," Drake joined in on the conversation. "I had a Charizard once. They can be quite difficult to control unless you raise them from the time they're a Charmander."

"That's the sad part," The redhead smirked. "he did raise him since he was a Charmander." She playfully poked her boyfriend in the cheek, causing him to fume.

"That's understandable though." Drake replied. "The transition from Charmeleon to Charizard can be a bit jarring for some trainers." He paused. "Though amateurs sometimes lose control of them when they evolve into Charmeleon."

Misty kept her smirk directed at Ash, while the black haired trainer just returned the look by glaring his eyes at her. "Ash here lost control of him after he evolved _into_ Charmeleon."

The sailor's eyes widened. "Oh." He started to scratch the back of his head, feeling a bit awkward for indirectly insulting the trainer.

"Can we change the subject please?" Ash rolled his head back and looked up at the ceiling, trying to hide his embarrassment.

Before anyone could reply, or before Misty could bring up the story about Ash using a Caterpie against a Pigeotto, the Pokémon Center's front door flew open. All three of them turned to see a brunet woman wearing a green shirt and blue jeans rushing inside. "Drake!" She cried.

"What is it Marian? Is something wrong?" The sailor asked the woman he was apparently familiar with, seeming quite concerned in his tone.

"There is a massive Tentacruel attacking the beach!"

Upon hearing the news, he quickly turned to Ash and Misty. "I only have Salamence with me, I'm going to need your help."

"But all of our Pokémon are still being healed!" The trainer from Pallet was the slightest bit frantic, feeling completely naked with no Pokémon on his person.

"Here!" Nurse Joy shouted from across the lobby, tossing a Poké Ball each to Ash and Misty. "Your Gabite and Golduck are ready to go, now get out there and stop that Tentacruel!"

"Pika!" A familiar cry uttered from behind the desk.

"No, Pikachu you're not…." Before Nurse Joy could even finish protesting, the yellow mouse leapt out from behind the counter and dashed towards his master, not allowing for Ash to leave without him.

"Are you sure, Pikachu?." Ash seemed hesitant in bringing the Pokémon with him.

"Pikachu!" He was a hundred percent sure.

"Alright, if you say so." Ash conceded, knowing that they had to get going soon.

"Are you two ready?" Drake asked the trainers.

"Yeah!" Ash and Misty answered.

Giving them a nod, the sailor darted out of the Pokémon Center, while Ash and Misty followed closely behind him.

XXXXXXXXXX

Many of the pedestrians had gathered around the beach to watch on as the thirty foot tall Tentacruel smashed and destroyed everything it could get its tentacles on. The rage induced sea monster had already destroyed one of the oceanfront restaurants, and was slowly but surely making its way to a nearby hotel.

"Oh wow," Misty gasped upon seeing the beast, awestricken by the Pokémon's size. While Misty ogled the water type, it then demonstrated its strength as it flipped over a dune buggy with little effort.

"Jenny!" Drake exclaimed, catching the nearby police officer's attention. "What happened?"

She turned to face the Elite Four Member, clearly distraught by the beast's rampage, but still maintaining her composure. "A sailboat accidentally ran into it near the coast, and after that it started going on a rampage!"

"Well that explains it." Misty chimed in. "The poor thing's just hurt and scared." She walked past Jenny and stared at the enraged Tentacruel, taking note of the wound on the left red sphere atop its head.

"Well scared or not, we're taking it down." Jenny's voice was stern.

Drake and Ash's eyes widened, while Misty felt her heart drop. "You aren't seriously going to kill it, are you?" The redhead was obviously upset by the officer's words.

"We aren't given much choice." There was a very strong hint of reluctance in the blue haired woman's voice. "We can't subdue it, and if we don't stop it soon, innocent lives could be put in danger."

A scowl crossed Drake's face, he wasn't about to allow for them to kill the Pokémon when he knew for sure that between him, Ash, and Misty, they could easily subdue the creature without using lethal force. He stepped forward and opened his mouth to speak, but before any words could escape from his lips, Ash had already beaten him to it.

"No!" The black haired trainer stomped towards Officer Jenny. "I'm not going to let you kill that Tentacruel!"

Jenny narrowed her eyes. "Are you threatening to jeopardize a police operation?" She reached for her Growlith's Poké Ball.

"No, no, no, no!" Ash quickly threw his arms up and shook his head, Pikachu, who was resting on his shoulder did the same. "All I'm asking is that you just let us try to stop it." He gave her a serious look, beaming directly into her eyes. "And if that doesn't work…. Then you can stop it however you want, but please give us a chance?" The expression Ash carried made it clear to the officer that the trainer truly wanted to save the Pokémon.

"Listen to him." Drake added, taking the young trainer's side. "This kid took down Tobias' Darkrai, I'm sure an injured Tentacruel won't be too hard for him to handle." He looked down at Ash and gave him a wink.

Jenny bit down on her lip. "Fine." She gave in. "You have two minutes to stop it before we call out the assault squad, so be quick."

Responding with a nod, Ash, Drake, and Misty darted down the sandy beach to confront the rampant jellyfish-like Pokémon. All three of them reaching for their Poké Balls before tossing them in front of the beast.

"Ga-bite!"

"Golduck!"

"Raaargh!"

All three of the Pokémon stood side by side, capturing the gargantuan water type's attention. "Cruel?" It bellowed, turning towards the three Pokémon. He gave them all a menacing glare, showing no signs of fear as he drew a tentacle back to take a swipe at Salamence, as he was the biggest target.

The gray appendage flung towards the dragon like a whip, lashing against his long neck, causing him to rear his head back in pain. Seeing this, Drake began to clench his fist. "Salamence, use dragon claw!" Turning its head back towards the Tentacruel, the dragon let out a roar before swiping at the water type's blue cranium with a glowing claw.

"You too Gabite!" Ash's Pokémon leapt into the air, the sharp points on the end of its arms glowing as he drew back to swing at the water type. Tentacruel was already stunned by Salamence's attack, allowing for Gabite to get an easy hit in.

"Crueeel!" It cried, stumbling back after taking two direct hits onto its already injured skull.

"You're turn." Misty and Golduck exchanged looks with one another before the redhead gave the order. "Use confusion to take Tentacruel down!"

"Golduck." The blue Pokémon replied before going in for the attack. His eyes began to glow a luminescent blue as he gazed at his opponent. Tentacruel seemed completely unaware of the incoming attack, as it was already dazed from the two attacks it'd received earlier.

However the second the psychic waves entered the water type's brain, all of his rage and fury was instantly directed towards Golduck. "Oh no!" Misty could see that the confusion attack did little more than anger the Pokémon. Seemingly more in control than it was before, the water type drew back one of its massive tentacles and took a swing at the blue duck. "Golduck, get out of the wa-" There was a loud crash as Tentacruel's gargantuan tentacle smashed into Misty's Pokémon, causing a surge of sand to shoot up into the air.

"Oh no!" Ash looked over and watched on as the appendage lifted up, revealing Golduck lying facedown in the sand, nearly unconscious. Seeing that Golduck wasn't going to be of much help anymore, he looked over at Drake. The sailor looked over at Ash as well, both of them exchanging nods as they both knew what order the other was about to give.

"Dragon rage!" They ordered. Gabite and Salamence both opened their mouths and they each unleashed a large fireball, sending the two attacks flying towards the unaware Tentacruel. The second the blasts made contact with the jellyfish, he let out a thunderous cry of pain.

"Crueeel!" It turned its gaze back towards the two dragon types. The amount of rage and fury the water type carried in its eyes was enough to even make the grizzled sailor feel a bit nervous.

"I don't like this…" Drake uttered, having a bad feeling about what the Pokémon was about to do.

Tentacruel's mouth began to emit a light blue aura as flakes of ice began to encircle around the light. Before Ash and Drake could even give an order to dodge, the water type unleashed a shimmering beam of ice, the blast spiraling towards the two dragons.

Salamence and Gabite braced themselves for the attack, knowing it was too late to move out of the way. They could both feel the icy beam radiating cold air as it grew closer and closer to them, but then just as it was about to hit… There was nothing.

The two dragons looked up, wondering why the attack hadn't hit. What they saw a green light encasing both of them, completely deflecting the ice attack. The two dragon types each exchanged a look with one another, wondering if the other had used protect, but upon seeing each other's confused expression, they quickly realized that the neither of them had done it.

"Hey!" Misty called to the two dragons and their trainers. "Golduck's not out of the fight just yet!" All four of them turned towards Misty and Golduck to see that the water type had managed to get back onto his feet, though it was quite clear he wasn't exactly in top condition.

"Tenta?" The jellyfish gave a confused stare at the Pokémon he thought he'd taken down.

"Golduck, show that Tentacruel who's boss!"

Without having to receive a direct order, the Pokémon placed his fins on his temples, the red gym on his forehead glowing. Once Tentacruel's attention was completely focused on Golduck, that was when the blue duck unleashed his attack. A brilliant beam of spiraling light zapped from the red crystal on Golduck's forehead, and hit his opponent square between the eyes. With one last cry of pain, the water type fell back onto the sand and rolled his eyes back.

"Good job, Golduck!" Misty congratulated her Pokémon. "Now, Poké Ball go!" She flung one of the red and white spheres she pulled from her belt towards the downed Pokémon. Once the ball made contact with Tentarcuel, the orb pulled in the water type with a red light, and sealed it inside. There wasn't even much of a struggle before the red light in the center shut off. "Woo hoo!" Misty cheered, making a somewhat familiar victory pose.

"Hey!" Ash yelled. "That's my pose!"

Misty flippantly flicked her wrist at the trainer before the Poké Ball vanished, being teleported to the Cerulean City Gym.

"Great job!" Jenny praised the three trainers and their Pokémon. "Maybe next time there's a Pokémon attack, we should just call you guys." She added jokingly.

"It's not a problem." Misty replied, feeling quite high and mighty about herself not just because she caught a Tentacruel, but also because she single handedly saved Ash and Drake's Pokémon from being frozen by Tentacruel's ice beam.

"That was awesome, Misty!" Ash ran up to the redhead and praised her on her success.

"Pika chu!" The yellow mouse atop his shoulder agreed.

"That was some very quick thinking." Drake added. "I must say I'm very impressed."

"Why thank you." Her blissfulness grew even more upon being praised by yet _another_ member of the Elite Four.

The dragon trainer nodded as Salamence and Gabite returned to their masters' sides. "That's a very impressive Pokémon you have there, Ash." He turned to face the trainer from Pallet. "I've never seen a Gabite in as good shape as this one." He continued, examining the impressive looking dragon and ground type.

"Thanks." Ash replied with a smile. "He is pretty awesome, isn't he?"

"Say," Drake started to scratch his chin. "Nobody's on the beach, and we still have about thirty minutes of sunlight left." He turned towards the ocean to see the sun was beginning to set over the horizon, causing the sky begin letting out an orange glow. "How about we have our battle right here, right now?"

The trainer was a bit taken back by the offer. "R..right now?"

"Yeah," he turned towards Ash, a crooked smile stretched across his weathered face. "My Salamence versus your Gabite."

The black haired trainer let out a crooked grin as well. "You're on!"

"Great!" Drake and his Salamence took a few steps back, getting a good distance from Ash and Gabite. At this point many of the onlookers from earlier began to draw in a bit closer when they saw that it looked like a Pokémon battle was about to take place. "Misty!" The sailor looked over at the redhead. "Would you do us the honor of being the referee?"

A bit surprised by the offer, she looked over at Ash to see that he was giving her a warm smile, followed by a nod. Pikachu then hopped off his master's shoulder and scurried over to the redhead, climbing onto hers. Cracking a smile, Misty turned back to Drake. "I'd love to!"

"Wonderful!" His cheery mood seemed to strongly contrast the way he presented himself with his rough, grizzly image. "Just give us the call, and we'll start."

Misty nodded before beginning to make her way towards the ocean, turning to face the crowd of people that had gathered around to see the 'gym' battle. "This is an official Pokémon League gym battle!" Her voice traveled across the beach so that everyone attending could hear what she was saying. "On this side, representing the Zaffer City Gym is Drake of the Hoenn Elite Four!" She motioned her right arm towards the sailor and his Salamence. The crowd erupted in applause. Once the cheering died down, she began to speak again. "And on this side is the challenger," She motioned her left arm towards her boyfriend. "Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town!" The crowd busted out into another round of applause, hooting and hollering for the Kanto native. "Now, let the battle begin!"

"Gabite!" Ash called to his dragon type. "Start this off with take down!" The landshark began to dash down the sand, having a slight terrain advantage.

"Salamence, meet him with a headbutt." Drake was completely calm in his order. The dragon lowered his head, and began to stomp across the beach, meeting head on with his opponent.

"Now!" Ash ordered. "Dragon claw!" The Sinnohan dragon raised his left claw as a blue light emitted around it.

Completely unsuspecting of the attack, Salamence ran head on into the attack, feeling the sharp claw cut into his jaw. "Raaaar!" It reared its head back in pain the second the super effective attack made contact.

"Salamence, get into the air!" Drake knew that at least there Salamence would have the advantage. The Pokémon used his great red wings to lift himself into the air, and began soaring over the beach. "Now use dragon breath!" The blue dragon made a sharp turn, getting Gabite directly in his line of site. Salamence then opened his gaping jaws and unleashed a barrage of searing hot green flame towards his opponent.

"Look out, Ash!" Misty cried out in sheer reaction.

"Pika pi!" The mouse exclaimed.

"Gabite, use dig!" The ground type began to use his shovel-like claws to rip through the sand and completely submerged himself under the thousands of grains of rock and sand before the attack could hit. The second the flames made contact with where Gabite had been standing, he was already safely tucked away under the earth.

"The sand's not going to save you!" Drake raised the brim of his cap, showing his eyes, something he didn't do often during battle. "Salamence, use aerial ace straight through the sand!" Heeding his master's orders, Salamence dove downward as a brilliant white streak of light glowed in his wake.

"Meet him with dragon rush!" Gabite shot out from the sand like a rocket, a glowing blue light surrounding him as he shot towards his opponent.

"Dragon tail!" Drake shouted. Salamence continued soaring downward, towards his opponent as his long tail started to glow. Once the moment was right and he was close enough to Gabite, he shifted all of his momentum into his tail, smashing it head on into his rushing opponent. Sparks began to fly upon the two attacks making contact, Salamence's powerful tail not giving an inch, and Gabite's tenacious power not letting up in the slightest.

"Holy cow, this is amazing!" One of the bystanders shouted.

"I know, this is better than the ones you see on t.v.!"

Ash and Drake both bit down on their lips, wondering who would give in first. Though Gabite's tenacity was impressive, Salamence's sheer strength proved to be the deciding factor in this conflict. The massive tail finally pushed forward, sending Gabite spiraling downwards, crashing into the sand.

"Gabite!" Ash cried. "Are you alright?"

"Ga-bite!" He roared, pulling himself back onto his feet, shooting out a flame from his mouth, signifying his willingness to continue battling.

_Just like Charizard._ Ash cracked a grin. "Alright then," Ash pulled his cap back. "You know what to do! Let's show him your draco meteor!"

"Draco meteor?!" The Elite Four Member's eyes widened. However, this shock was only very brief, as he quickly pulled his mind back into the battle. "Salamence!" He roared, ripping off his duster, revealing his grizzled yet toned upper body; something he hadn't done since his battle with Steven Stone. "Fire your own draco meteor directly at Gabite!"

Both Pokémon opened their jaws, Salamence aiming down at the ground, Gabite aiming up into the air. A orange light began to form in front of their mouths as they charged up for the attack. During this time, the entire crowd had started to cheer for their favorite to win; half the crowd cheering for Ash, the other half for Drake.

"Fire now!" Both of the trainers ordered. Hearing their orders, the dragons unleashed their powerful attacks. The glowing balls of energy soared towards each other, meeting square in the middle. For those watching on the sidelines, the powerful meeting of attacks was perfectly framed by the setting sun.

"Salamence, force it forward with dragon breath!"

"You do the same, Gabite!"

Both dragons unleashed a barrage of green flames from their mouths, using the force of the powerful attacks to push their draco meteors into their opponent. Both of them let out a bellowing roar as they unleashed everything they had left to give, knowing that the winner in this test of strength would prove to be the winner of the battle. However, Salamence's immense power seemed to prove too much for Gabite, as his powerful flames were pushing the two draco meteors towards the dragon and ground type.

"Oh no." Misty gasped, seeing that the battle wasn't going in Ash and Gabite's favor. "Come on Gabite!" She screamed,. "You can do it!" She raised her fist into the air. "Ga bite! Ga bite! Ga bite!" She pumped her fist into the air each time she shouted his name.

The audience began to catch onto the cheer, and many of those watching on began to do the same as the Cerulean City Gym Leader. "Ga bite! Ga bite! Ga bite!" The crowd's voice cheered in unison, their voices carrying into Ash's ears.

"You hear that, Gabite?" He called to his Pokémon. "They're cheering for you!" The dragon type diverted a small fraction of his attention to listening to the cheering that was taking place around him. For each voice he heard screaming his name, he felt as though he was becoming that much stronger. Feeling this new found power, Gabite unleashed even more power and energy into his blast than he knew he even had.

Salamence and Drake both widened their eyes the second they saw Gabite's stream of flame grow even hotter and brighter. The winged dragon began to feel a sense of dread overtake him when he realized that his flames were now somehow being overpowered by his opponent's.

"Salamence!" Drake clenched his fist. "Throw everything you've got left into it!" The dragon managed to open his jaws even wider, unleashing more flames to back up his attack. However, his strength just wasn't proving to be enough, as Gabite's powerful blast still proved to be stronger.

"You've got this Gabite!" Ash cheered on. Hearing his master's words, the dragon unleashed one final push in his flames, sending the two draco meteors spiraling towards his flying opponent.

Letting out one last look of surprise, Salamence tried to fly out of the way of the immanent attack, only to be hit square in the stomach by the two draco meteors, as well as the searing hot flames from Gabite's dragon breath.

"No!" Drake couldn't believe what he was seeing. The force of the attacks sent Salamence flying up higher into the air, roaring in pain as the draco meteors pressed into his belly. Then like two grenades of energy, the two meteors exploded into hundreds of smaller pieces, all hitting Salamence square on.

With one last roar, the winged dragon began crashing towards the ground, landing in the ocean, causing a huge splash upon impact. The entire crowd erupted into a applause and cheer upon seeing the conclusion of the awesome confrontation that had just taken place before them.

"Salamence is no longer able to battle!" Misty raised her arms in the air. "So the winner is Ash Ketchum!" She waved her left arm towards the black haired trainer, signifying his victory, causing the crowd to scream and cheer even louder.

"Well done, well done." Drake cracked a rough grin before recalling Salamence, allowing him to take a much needed rest. "That was the most exhilarating battle I've had in a long time, Ketchum!" He shouted across the beach to his victorious challenger. "It was like battling Steven Stone all over again!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge that looked like a dragon scale. "You've earned the Scale Badge, my friend!" He tossed the badge across the beach, landing into Ash's hands.

"Thanks!" He shouted back.

"Great job Ash!" Misty congratulated as she ran up the trainer and gave him a tight hug before planting a kiss right on his lips. "That was an amazing battle!"

"Gaaaaa…" He was so red steam was coming from his ears. "Thanks Misty." He replied, sounding like his entire jaw had gone numb.

"Pika pi!" The mouse jumped onto his shoulder and began to lick him on the cheek.

"Well let's not forget Gabite." Ash snapped himself back into reality, nodding towards the dragon and ground type.

"Ga-bite." he replied coolly, crossing his arms. _Wonderful, Charizard's attitude and Sceptile's coolness… And Misty says _I_ have a big ego…_

"So you're going to Orchid City next?" Drake spoke, approaching the two, leaving his duster lying in the sand behind him.

"Yeah, do you know the quickest way to get there?"

He gave them a nod. "Sure do, just take the gondola to the top of the mountain." He pointed towards the mountain to the east of the city. "It'll take you all the way to the top of Mount Zerra, and after that it's a day's walk to Orchid City."

"Awesome!" Ash replied, happy to hear that he could get to Orchid City, get his badge, and get to the Master League with time to spare. "Are ya ready Misty?" He placed his arm around her back, resting his hand on her hip.

"I've got to warn you though, it'll take you about four hours to get to the top of the mountain."

Misty groaned. "You mean I have to spend four hours cramped inside of a small cable car with _him_?" Despite her tone, the statement was completely playful.

Ash rolled his eyes. "Well that can wait till tomorrow, I guess." He looked over at the sun which was now almost completely past the horizon line. "I say we go back to the Pokémon Center and rest up a bit."

"Agreed." Misty replied.

Before they could leave the beach though, they heard a storm of voices call out their names as the crowd of people began stampeding towards them, begging for all of their autographs. Ash and Misty were a bit taken back by this, while Drake just flippantly rolled his eyes, quite used to this type of behavior. To his surprise though, most of the onlookers had gathered around the trainer from Pallet.

"It looks like you've got a few fans, Ketchum." The dragon trainer chuckled.

"Looks like it." Ash let out a laugh. He had had one or two people ask him for his autograph before, but never had he been completely bombarded like this. Thirty to forty people were all begging and pleading that he'd sign something for them, or take a moment to have a picture with them, treating him like he was some sort of celebrity. _I think I could get used to this. _The black haired trainer thought, cracking a grin.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! This one was quite fun, and I hope you liked the draco meteor battle at the end (Though I will say that part was so Dragon Ball Z).

As for the next chapter, with enough optimism to bring world peace and the luck fifteen Irishmen with a golden horseshoe stuck up their ass, I could possibly have that one up late tomorrow. Realistically I'll say it'll be up on Saturday. As for the one after that, possibly Monday... maybe...

But the good news is after that, it's off to the Master League! (In case you can't tell, I'm quite excited about this)

Till then, see ya!


	26. Happy Birthday, Ash Ketchum!

Here we are with another chapter. Like I said this one is going to be shorter than the others, and not too much happens, but I think it's a pretty good read. I'm not going to go into details though, so I'll let you read it for yourself.

Oh, one last thing really quick. I don't read other fics that much (mainly because I'm always working on this one), but I came across a story from CracktheSkye called Indomitable Spirit. I haven't actually gotten the chance to finish reading the first chapter, but holy s*** it's f***ing awesome. There are only eight chapters out right now, and I'm not sure how many there will be, but you guys should definitely go check it out.

Anyways, onto my story...

Enjoy!

* * *

"Misty, will you hurry up?!" Ash shouted at the redhead as she finally exited the store, carrying two brown paper bags in each hand. "The gondola's gonna leave in five minutes!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming." She grumbled, throwing a pouty look towards her boyfriend. "Just hold your horses, will ya?" She started to pick up her pace, realizing that if they didn't catch the gondola in time, they'd have to wait another three hours before the next one arrived.

"What were you getting anyways?" The black haired trainer quizzed as he started to pick up speed as well, going from a paced walk to a slow jog.

"Just some snacks for the ride, and some food for the trip." She handed one of the bags over to Ash, letting him share the load. "I figured we'd be on there for a while, so I got us something to hold us over until we got to the top of the mountain."

"That's what you had me wait outside for?" He narrowed his eyes, giving her a bit of an inquisitive stare. "Just so you could do some grocery shopping?"

The redhead's eyes narrowed as well, throwing a look at the trainer. "If I had let you come in with me, you'd still be in there ogling the giant pretzels."

His expression began to quickly shift from suspicious to intrigued. "They had giant pretzels?" He was almost tempted to go inside and get one himself.

"Uggh!" She rolled her eyes. "That's _exactly_ what I mean!"

"Alright, alright." Ash decided to back off of the conversation, seeing that Misty's attitude wasn't going to lighten up anytime soon.

Once Ash averted his eyes away from her, the redhead let out a quiet sigh of relief. She wasn't even quite sure if Ash was aware of this or not, but his birthday was tomorrow. The snacks Misty had gotten were merely a ruse to allow her to pick up Ash's present.

_I really hope he likes it._ She thought. Though she'd never expressed anything like this openly, Ash's opinions really did mean a lot to her. Even when they were kids she felt this way. Though she always tried to present herself with a rough surface, everything hehad ever said to her was always taken to heart.

"Hurry up, Misty!" She looked up to realize that while losing herself in thought, she'd also lost pace.

"I'm coming!" The redhead cradled the bag in the same way she used to cradle Togepi and Azurill as she picked up speed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash, Misty, and Pikachu jumped into the cable car, just as the door began to slide shut before the gondola began ascending up the miles worth of cables that led to the top of Mount Zerra. The three felt relieved to see that the entire cable car was completely empty aside from them, as the idea of being cramped in a fifteen by thirty foot box with a bunch of people they don't know for four hours wasn't exactly calling to them.

"Whew." Ash fell back onto the bench aligning the wall of the cable car. "That was close." As he said this, he felt the entire car begin to rock back and forth as it traversed up the mountain, suspended by two six inch steel cables.

"Yeah," Misty sighed, taking a seat right next to him. She took a breath and leaned her head back, wishing she could just fall asleep and wake up when they got to the top; that wasn't going to happen though. "Do you want some snacks?" The redhead reached into the paper bag and pulled out a bag of chips.

"I'd love some!" Ash and Pikachu's eyes lit up the second the idea of food was presented to them. The trainer reached out for the chips that Misty was presenting before him, but she quickly swatted his hand away. "Ow!" He began rubbing the dorsal of his hand. "What was that for?"

"These aren't for you." She answered sternly. "_This _is for you." She reached into the paper bag and pulled out a hot, fresh, giant pretzel.

Ash's mouth began to water the moment his eyes gazed upon the salty treat. "Thank you so much Misty!"

The gym leader rolled her eyes as she handed the snack over to Ash's greedy hands. While she did this, Pikachu kept his hungry stare directed at Misty, patiently awaiting for his treat as well. With a smile, Misty reached back into the bag and pulled out some Pokéchow, along with a packet of ketchup.

"Pikaaaa" He squealed happily, taking the food from the redhead.

Once everyone had their food, Misty finally opened her bag of chips and slowly began to devour them one by one. The other paper bag full of food was for the day's walk tomorrow, which meant that these snacks had to last them until they got to the top of the mountain. Knowing Ash though, Misty was certain he'd gobble down his entire pretzel within five minutes, and then complain that he was hungry by the time they got to the top of the mountain.

"So Misty," Ash took a bite of the doughy pretzel, and chewed it before continuing. "Are you excited about the Master League?" He paused to swallow his food. "Ya know it's at Corsola Beach, right?"

She nodded. "Sure am!" Like Sunnyport, Corsola Beach was one of the many places she'd always wanted to go to as a child, even if it was too cold to take a dip in the ocean, it was still an experience she didn't want to miss. "But you still have to get your last gym badge first."

The trainer brushed off the statement. "I've beaten everybody else, the eighth gym leader shouldn't be a problem."

"Don't get too cocky, Ash." The redhead sounded a little bit worried, afraid that the trainer was letting his skills go to his head again. The last thing they needed was a reenactment of the Sunnyport Gym battle.

"I'm not." He replied. "I've already got a strategy planned out." He took one last bite of his pretzel, finishing it off.

The Cerulean Gym Leader raised an eyebrow. "You do?"

"Yeah." He placed his hands behind his head and leaned back against the bench.

"But you don't even know who the next gym leader is, so how can you already have a strategy planned out?"

"Easy," The black haired trainer looked up at the ceiling of the cable car. "Mr. Goodshow said they had two members from each Elite Four." He directed his eyes towards the redhead sitting next to him. "Koga and Karen were from Johto, Bruno and Agatha were from Kanto, Drake and Glacia were from Hoenn, and Flint is the only member of the Sinnoh Elite Four I've challenged so far." He started to smile. "That means the next gym leader is either Aaron, Bertha, or Lucian."

"Wow." Misty sounded quite surprised that Ash was able to make such a deduction. "I'm impressed. It looks like you actually _do_ have a brain somewhere in that thick skull of yours." She gave him a playful wink.

"Ha ha, very funny." His sarcasm was as dry as the pretzel he just finished devouring. "Anyways," the trainer tried to bring the conversation back onto its rails. "I've got a foolproof strategy for all three of em'!"

"Foolproof, eh?"

"Yup!"

"Do share."

"I'd love to!" He lifted himself off of the bench, starting to feel the excitement of battle course through his veins, despite the fact his battle was still a day away at the very least. "If it's Aaron, Charizard, Pidgeot, and Pikachu will wipe the floor with his bugs!"

"Well what if its Bertha?" Misty crossed her arms, letting a smirk cross her face.

"I'll use Sceptile, and Totodile to blow em' away, and if worst comes to worst, Pidgeot will fly right over her Pokémon's ground attacks!"

"And Lucian?"

Ash was waiting for this one. "If it's Lucian, then I've got Mismagius to take down his psychic types!"

"You mean you're entire strategy is based around one Pokémon?" Misty questioned him, throwing a look his way while she waited for his retort.

"Of course not!" He snapped, almost offended that she'd think he'd base his entire strategy around just _one _Pokémon. "Since I don't have any other Pokémon that can counter psychic attacks, I'll use Sceptile since he knows night slash and pursuit, and Pikachu because…" He looked down at the mouse who was looking up at his master adoringly. "Well I can always count on Pikachu."

"Pika chu!" The mouse happily leapt into his master's arms and nuzzled against his cheek.

While the trainer and his Pokémon laughed and played, Misty started to crack a warm smile. This was why she liked Ash so much. His outgoing personality, his booming confidence, but most of all his strong bond with his Pokémon. The redhead let out a sigh as she closed her eyes, taking a moment to relax and enjoy the cable car ride. However as she did so, the gondola was suddenly brought to a jarring stop.

"What the?" Ash felt the car begin to rock back and forth as it came to a sudden stop, causing him to fall off of his feet and land on his rear.

"What's going on?" Misty's eyes shot open as she turned around to look out the window, seeing that the car was halting its accent. She then turned towards Ash, who was still on the floor. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." The black haired trainer pulled himself back onto his feet and started looking around the car, trying to figure out what brought the gondola to such a sudden and abrupt stop.

"Hello, all passengers." A male voice echoed from the cable car's intercom. "We're sorry, but there's been some sort of malfunction with the engine at the top of the mountain. We'll be working as quickly as possible to fix the problem, so until then just sit tight and we should be up and running soon." With that, the intercom shut off.

"Oh great." Ash fell back onto the bench, sighing in annoyance that their arrival to the top of the mountain would be delayed, as well as their arrival to Orchid City.

Misty made the same annoyed sigh as her boyfriend. _Great, just great!_ She had to hide her frustration. _If this thing doesn't get moving soon, then Ash's birthday picnic will be ruined!_ She already had it all planned out; her and Ash were going to have a nice, romantic picnic atop of the mountain right when midnight rolled around. However due to the unexpected delay, that picnic might not happen.

"Well now what?"

"I don't know!" The gym leader snapped, glaring at her boyfriend.

"Hey, what did I do?" He returned the glare.

Misty turned away from the trainer and leaned on the bench, laying the back of her head against the wall. "Nothing." She sighed. "You didn't do anything." She no longer sounded irritated anymore, so much as she did melancholy.

Ash was slightly perplexed by her sudden shift in attitude. "Is something wrong?"

"No." She replied plainly. "Nothing's wrong." Her tone said otherwise.

"Alright." Ash was certain something was bothering his girlfriend, but he knew her well enough to figure out that she wasn't going to talk about it, and pressing the subject would just make her angry. He turned and looked out the window to see that the sun was already beginning to fall over the sea, it's rays reflecting against the blue of the ocean. Ash wasn't an expert on determining the time by the sun's placement in the sky, but it didn't take an one to figure out that there were only a few more hours until nightfall. "I'm going to take a nap, alright?"

"Okay." Misty didn't even bother to look at him.

Ash let out a frown before turning away from the redhead and lowering the brim of his cap to block out the sun's rays. Once the light was out of his eyes, he sealed them shut and let the suspended cable car rock him to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sun had sunken behind the horizon, and the moon began to peak over the top of Mount Zerra, yet the cable car still remained suspended less than a quarter the way up the mountain. Misty had spent most of her time fiddling through Ash's Pokédex, looking over all of the Pokémon he'd encountered on his journey, and just trying to burn up time until the car started moving again. Growing board with it, she exhaled as she closed the red device, placing it next to her on the bench.

Misty pulled out her phone to check what time it was. _Eight Thirty._ She let out a sigh, wondering how long it would be until the cable car started moving again. Even if it started moving right now though, they'd never be able to make it to the picnic spot she'd picked out for them in time.

The Zaffer City Nurse Joy told her all about a romantic spot atop of Mount Zerra that was about two hours away from where the gondola would drop them off at. She said that it was so high up that sometimes at night you could even see the lights from Crestpeak City illuminating off in the distance. It didn't look like that was going to happen though.

She Looked over at the sleeping trainer and his Pikachu, feeling a pit in her stomach. Ash had been working so hard, training harder than he'd ever trained before, beating Elite Four Members left and right just so he could participate in what would probably be the most difficult and challenging tournament he'd ever taken part in. Yet the second her plans to throw him a romantic birthday party hit a little bump in the road, she gave up. This wasn't like her, she _never_ gave up. Whenever she hit a bump in the road, she'd always pull herself back onto her feet and go around it, or whenever something didn't turn out the way she expected, she just made do and worked with what she had. _Come on Misty, Ash deserves this! _She thought.

XXXXXXXXXX

The black haired trainer made a big stretch as he awakened from his slumber, the brim of his hat still covering his eyes. Ash felt around for Pikachu only to realize that he wasn't laying next to him anymore. _Must've waken up already._ He turned his head towards where Misty was sitting, and raised his hat up so he could gaze his eyes at the beautiful girl from Cerulean City. However, when he raised his cap, he saw she was no longer sitting next to him either.

"Ash." A sweet voice rang.

The trainer from Pallet quickly turned towards the center of the car to see Misty sitting on her knees in the middle of the floor, a single cupcake placed in front of her with one blue candle sticking out from the center. And off to the side, he could see Pikachu wearing a little cone party hat.

"What's this for?" He appeared to be quite bewildered by the sight before him.

"Don't tell me you forgot your own birthday?" Misty made a small laugh.

"My birthday?" He paused for a moment, trying to remember what day it was. "But that's not till tomorrow, isn't it?"

"Well yeah," She started to form a warm smile. "But I was hoping to celebrate it at midnight on top of Mount Zerra, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen." She let a chuckle escape from her.

A huge smile crossed Ash's face, his mouth slightly agape. He couldn't believe how sweet this was. "You know you didn't have to do this, right?" He said taking a seat on the other side of the cupcake, right across from Misty.

"I know." She replied. "But I wanted to."

"That's really sweet of you." He paused to laugh. "I didn't know you _could_ be sweet." He added jokingly.

"You might want to stop yourself while you're ahead." The redhead growled.

Ash responded by throwing her a menacing glare, Misty quickly did the same. It looked like they were about to burst into one of their notorious arguments, the type of arguments that sent Brock and Pikachu running for cover. Pikachu's mouth made an "O" shape, frightened that this birthday party may be ruined before it had even really began.

After a few more seconds of staring at each other though, Ash cracked a smile. Shortly after that, Misty began to slowly crack a smile as well. Seeing each other smile caused for both of them to let a faint giggle escape from them, and before they knew it that giggling turned into full on laughter.

Pikachu stared at both of them in confusion. One moment they looked like they were about to kill each other, and the next they were laughing and giggling like one of them had just told a funny joke. Even seven years later, the electric mouse still didn't have the faintest clue as to how their relationship worked.

"Thanks Misty." Ash said in a warm voice.

"It was my pleasure." The gym leader replied as she lit a match. "Now make a wish." She said, lighting the candle that sat atop the cupcake.

Ash closed his eyes and started to smile. After a second or two, he finally opened his eyes and blew out the candle in a single puff.

"So what did you wish for?" The redhead asked.

"I can't tell ya," He replied. "cause then it won't come true."

Giggling under her breath, Misty began to speak again. "Well would you like to eat your cake first, or see your presents first?"

His eyes widened. "Y..you got me presents?"

"Of course I did." She reached into her red backpack and pulled out a small box covered in blue gift wrapping.

"Oh wow!" Ash took the box into his hands, staring on in disbelief. "You know you didn't have to do this, right?"

"I know." She replied with a smile. "Now open it." The redhead was quite eager for him to unwrap the gift.

"Uh.. Okay." He started tearing away at the wrapping, unveiling a black box. He looked up at his girlfriend once more before opening the box itself. Ash pulled the lid off, revealing a precious, brilliant, blue gem. Upon further examination it seemed that there was…. Water inside of it? "A water gem?!" He couldn't believe what he was seeing, "These can only be found in Unova?!"

"Mhmm." Misty nodded. "I ordered it before we got to Zaffer City, and it arrived at the Pokémart earlier today."

"Misty! This is so cool!" The trainer lifted the gem out of the box and stared at it adoringly.

"You really think so?" She asked sheepishly.

"Yeah!"

"Well, there's more." She added. "Look inside the box." She felt a warmth in her stomach, happy to see that Ash liked his present.

Heeding her words, he placed the gem gently on his lap before looking through the box. Inside was a blank white card. He took hold of the folded paper and slowly opened it. What he saw made his heart skip a beat.

Inside of the card was a picture from their old journeys that Ash had thought to be long gone. "H..how did you get this?" He asked, holding the picture in hand.

Misty made a warm smile. "I called Todd and had him send it over."

"Oh wow." Ash looked down at the old picture of him and Misty in front of the Sunflora fields of Johto.

In the picture, They had their backs turned to the camera, while Ash pointed towards the sunset, while his hand rested on Misty's shoulder. Despite how sweet and romantic the picture may have appeared to be, it was anything but that. At the time they had been traveling with Todd Snap, an expert Pokémon photographer, and while they were traveling through the Sunflora fields the two had been arguing over which way to go to get to the next town. During their argument Todd took the perfect picture just as Ash was grabbing Misty by the shoulder and turning her towards the direction he was pointing. When they both saw the picture, both of them demanded that he get rid of it. Of course though, Todd wouldn't allow for such a well taken picture to be destroyed. In hindsight, that was certainly a good thing.

"This is really awesome!" He held up the picture, making one of the biggest smiles he'd had in quite some time.

"I thought you might like that." She giggled. "But there's one more present."

"There is?" Ash couldn't believe that she had gotten him yet _another _gift. "Where is it?"

"Right here." Without any warning, Misty leaned over the cupcake that sat between them, and placed her lips right onto his. It was soft and sweet at first, both of them closing their eyes and savoring the moment. Then it began to grow much more passionate, with Misty placing her hands around Ash's head, taking hold of his messy black hair, while he took hold of her hips.

Off to the side, Pikachu rolled his eyes before running between them to take the cupcake for himself since it didn't seem like Ash would be eating it anytime soon.

Neither one of the teens contested this, only moving in closer towards one another once the pastry was removed. Ash's arms began to wrap around Misty, causing the redhead to give in and slowly fall onto her back while Ash remained over her, not letting his lips separate from hers.

The two teen's bodies pressed up against one another, their tongues taking part in a romantic tango. Ash kept his arms wrapped around Misty's beautiful body, trying his best to withhold the temptation to place his hands somewhere they didn't have business being.

Their lips separated for a brief moment so Ash could give the gym leader a few soft kisses on her cheek. The kisses then began to move from her cheek down to her neck, but they went no further from there. As he did this, Misty began to let out a very faint moan.

_That's not helping…_

Realizing that this was going a bit farther than he first thought it was, he forced himself to stop kissing her and rested his forehead against hers, looking deep into her shimmering green eyes. She looked so beautiful. It may have been cheesy and cliché, but she truly did look like an angel. Her eyes shined brighter than any light, and her smile could warm even the iciest of souls. For the first time in his entire life, Ash began to feel a certain warmth in his heart that he just couldn't describe.

"Misty" He said.

"Yes?" Her voice was softer than a whisper.

"I…" He paused for a moment, trying to find his words. "I… lo…" He stopped once again, feeling his heart begin to race as Misty's beautiful eyes gazed into his, eagerly awaiting to hear his words. "I…. lo…ike you." He paused one last time so he could take a deep breath. "A lot."

Misty began to laugh under her breath before giving him a soft kiss on the lips. "I like you too, Ash." She giggled.

With that, Ash rolled off of the redhead and laid on the floor next to her, scolding himself mentally for not manning up and saying how he truly felt… Or was it how he truly felt? He wasn't quite sure. Thinking back to his realization at Scarlett Town, he knew that if he said _those_ three words, if things ended up turning sour, it would be hard to salvage their friendship. It just wasn't a risk Ash was willing to take… For the moment at least.

"You're a good kisser," Misty rolled over and faced him, resting her elbow on the floor, while her hand cradled her head. "Ya know that?"

Being brought out of his mental scolding, Ash began to blush. "Really? H..how do you know?"

"I just know." She replied.

"So… you don't have anybody to ya know…." He was hoping that Misty would finish his sentence; instead she just gave him a puzzled look. "to compare to?"

She began to blush. "Oh no, no, no!" After shaking off the blush, she placed her face up next to his, the tip of her nose touching his. "You're the only one I've ever kissed." She pecked him on the cheek. "So far that is." She added playfully.

"Hey!" The trainer from Pallet didn't take it as jokingly as she did.

"Oh relax." She rolled her eyes. "I'm just kidding."

Before anymore could be said about it, a metallic squeal overtook the entire cable car, causing both of the trainers to shoot up, and Pikachu to perk up his ears. As the car started to squeal, they could all feel the gondola begin continuing its accent to the top of the mountain.

"Great!" Ash exclaimed. "We're finally moving!"

"Looks like it." Misty added, looking out the window to see that they were indeed moving again.

The black haired trainer walked over to Misty's side and looked out the window as well, resting his arm on her shoulders. "Good timing, huh?"

"Perfect timing." The redhead leaned her head back, resting it on Ash's arm as she let out a sigh of happiness.

Ash let out a sigh as well, feeling just like he did when they first kissed in Sunnyport. He felt like any trainer who stood in his way wouldn't have a chance against him, and that was just how he needed to feel before his next gym battle. _Just one more gym leader, and then it's the Master League, and after that…. The championship. _

* * *

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'll be the first to tell you though that my writings excel in action, not romance. But just know that I tried my best to make this sound as sweet and romantic as possible, but if it didn't live up to your standards or expectations, I'm sorry. But like I said before Adventure/Romance not Romance/Adventure.

As for the next chapter, It'll be a gym battle chapter and I can write those chapters faster than lighting. However Sunday I'm going to be busy, so it _might_ be up on Monday, but to be safe I'll say Tuesday.

After that, we're starting up the Master League, which going by my current predictions that arc will last somewhere around 8-10 chapters. Well, till Monday or Tuesday everybody.

See ya!


	27. The Final Stepping Stone

Guys, I'm sorry this is up a few hours late, but my internet has been shooting in and out today for some reason, and I have been having to do some thinking about how to continue about writing this story...

Anyways, I finally snapped today and just couldn't force myself through my standard second round of revision, and I'm sorry if it shows in this chapter. I made it about half way through reading and I just got so tired of the monotony of rereading the same chapter two times in a row.

This is where I'm going to get to my plans for future updates. It pains me to say this to all of you loyal readers, but I'm not going to be updating until I finish writing the Master League Arc. I personally feel that the quality of my writing has dissipated ever since I started posting chapter by chapter. It's just the stress of having to meet deadlines has finally gotten to me, and I just can't do it anymore. I'm not setting a particular date for when I'll be finished with the Master League arc, but I'm going to try my best to finish it before Christmas.

With that said, I will be posting updates in the reviews section at the very least once every week, telling you guys how the progress is going.

As for this chapter... It's not bad... it's not great either. I know you guys may have been expecting some super duper mega ultra epic fight for the eighth gym leader, but with the Master League just around the corner, I didn't want to make this fight too spectacular because there's going to be A LOT of Pokémon battles in the next couple of chapters, and I don't want you guys to get burnt out on them.

Well anyways, enjoy!

* * *

"Well," Ash stood before the sleek, rounded building that was the Orchid City Gym. "this is it." He turned to the yellow mouse that sat atop his shoulder. "The last gym before the Master League." He said with a smile, confident that he could defeat the last of the eight gate keepers that stood between him and the Master League tournament.

"I wonder if they've been saving the best for last." Misty added, gazing upon the organic shape of the glossy structure.

"I hope so!" Ash was hungry for the battle. Over these past six months he had partaken in some of the toughest and most grueling battles he'd ever had in his life. This is what he lived for though; to challenge the very best, and to beat the very best. He was on a roll, and as far as he was concerned, he was going to keep on rolling with this momentum until he was a Pokémon Master.

The redhead let a faint grin escape her, finding the trainer's confidence to be quite charming. Though he still hinted arrogance, Ash was slowly but surely working his way to finding a perfect in-between in which he could be confident that he could win, while at the same time not coming across as conceited. "Just don't let it all go to your head." She chuckled.

Ash didn't even acknowledge the remark, instead pushing open the metallic door that stood between him and the final gym leader. Once the trainer from Pallet crossed the threshold, he felt a cold, empty chill run down his spine. Goosebumps started to arise all over his arms; Misty getting them on her legs as well, as her shorts didn't protect them from the brisk chill.

The inside of the gym was completely void of any real features. The entire room was nothing more than a League official battlefield, while the gym's metallic walls created a domelike structure around it. The emptiness of the building left Ash with a bit of a foreboding feeling.

"I'm here for a gym battle!" The trainer's voice reverberated throughout the building, bouncing off of the metal walls, causing an echo to fill the emptiness of the hollow room.

Almost immediately, there was a response from the other side of the gym. "You've come a long way to get this far." A masculine voice called back to the trainer. "But I can't let you go any further." The light on the other side of the gym flipped on, revealing the final gym leader. He was a man clad in a red suit with a black shirt and tie underneath. His purple lens glasses covered his eyes, while his flowing purple hair draped a little below his shoulders. "It's good to see you again, Ash Ketchum."

"Lucian!" The trainer made a crooked smile, already reaching for his first Poké Ball. "I was hoping you'd be the next gym leader!"

The master of psychic types let out a laugh. "I hope you're not still soar about me turning down a battle with you back in Sinnoh."

The black haired trainer rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter now!" He replied, feeling a rush of excitement flow through his veins. "Especially since I'm gonna wipe the floor with your psychic types!"

"You might want to cool it, Ash." Misty advised from the sidelines, not wanting for him to get too full of himself right before the battle.

Realizing she was right, he nodded, taking a moment to let his ego cool down a bit before pulling Sceptile's Poké Ball off of his belt. Though Ash hadn't battled Lucian before, he had seen the Elite Four Member battle in person when he went against Dawn. This didn't give him much of an advantage though, as Lucian had seen Ash in action multiple times when he was competing in the Lilly of the Valley Conference.

"So Ash," The purple haired trainer smirked. "I heard you put on quite a show in Zaffer City."

"Yeah," He felt a hint of fire in his ego spark back up. "I sure did!"

"Well there's no crowd to cheer you on in here." He said in a somewhat stern tone. "Just me, you, our Pokémon, and these metal walls." He said, motioning his arms around, pointing out the sleek, metallic walls.

Ash was slightly perplexed by his last statement. _What's so special about the walls?_ Brushing off the comment, he pulled Sceptile's Poké Ball off of his belt. "So, are you ready to battle? Or are we just going to talk all day?" The trainer cracked a grin, showing that he meant no ill will in his words.

Returning the grin, Lucian replied. "Straight to the point, I like that." He took hold of one of the three red and white spheres inside of his pocket. "This will be a three versus three battle. There are no time limits, and anywhere in the gym counts as in bounds." He hit the center button on the Poké Ball, causing it to enlarge. "Are the rules clear?"

"You bet." He nodded.

"Good." The Elite Four Member closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Then let the battle begin!" Lucian flung the red and white sphere onto the battlefield, unleashing his first Pokémon.

"Medicham!"

Ash took a moment and thought about his choice in Pokémon before throwing Sceptile's Poké Ball onto the field. Medicham was a fighting and psychic type, which meant Mismagius could take it down with no problem. However Ash knew what Lucian probably had in stock, and to tire out his trump card this early in the battle could only prove bad for him.

"Sceptile, I choose you!" The sphere busted open, releasing the green lizard onto the battlefield, ready to take on his first opponent.

"Ah," The psychic trainer looked on at the grass type, feeling a sense of admiration for his opponent. "this is the same Sceptile that defeated Tobias' Darkrai, isn't it?"

"You better believe it!"

"Well I guess that gives me all the more reason to look forward to this battle." He snickered. "Medicham, start this off with high jump kick!" The humanoid Pokémon leapt into the air, and started to come down hard towards his opponent with his right knee.

"Sceptile, detect!" The lizard's eyes began to glow a luminescent blue as he leapt out of the way of the attack, causing Medicham to slam his knee hard against the ground. "Yeah!" Ash cheered, knowing that whenever high jump kick missed, it would always hurt the user. However, he was a bit taken back when the fighting and psychic type pulled himself back onto his feet without showing any sign of pain. "Huh?"

"What's wrong Ash, did you really think that _that_ was going to slow Medicham down?"

_Yeah_. Ash shook off the momentary surprise, and returned all of his focus to the battle. "Alright, you've still got this Sceptile! Use leaf blade!" The leaves on his forearms began to glow in a white light as the lizard dashed towards his opponent with lighting fast speed, thrusting his arm forward when he came within reach of his opponent.

"Cham!" Lucian's Pokémon grunted as the blade hit him hard in the stomach, causing the fighting to stumble off of his feet due to his slightly weakened right knee.

The trainer from Pallet started to feel a smirk cross his face. "I thought you said missing high jump kick wouldn't slow down Medicham at all?" He shot in a snarky tone.

The gym leader huffed, ignoring the comment. "Medicham, get back on your feet and use confusion." He didn't show the least bit of worry in his voice.

"Counter it with detect!"

The fighting type placed his palms on the ground and used his arms to spring himself back onto his feet, his eyes glowing a dark blue. Channeling all of his psychic power into his right hand, he thrusted his arm forward, sending an invisible wave of psychic energy towards the grass type. Not taking a moment to lose though, Sceptile shifted out of the way with ease, causing the blast of psychic energy to fly right by him.

"Good job, Sceptile!" Medicham was now open for attack and that was all the opening he needed to finish up the round. "Now use n-" Before he could give his order, Sceptile flew forward as though some invisible force had struck him in the back, propelling him towards Medicham. "What?!"

Making a crooked smile, Lucian gave Medicham his next order. "Fire punch!"

Misty let out a gasp, knowing that if Sceptile took the hit directly, it could bring an early end to the round. "Look out!" She shrieked out of sheer reaction.

Still completely bewildered by Sceptile's seemingly failed detect, Ash wasn't able to give an order in time to counter the move.

Medicham's fiery fist slammed head on into Sceptile's chest, leaving a dark scorch across his belly as he sent the lizard flying across the arena, slamming into the metallic wall behind him. The grass type tried to pull himself onto his feet; though he was able to, it was quite apparent that Medicham had already won this fight.

Ash began to reach for Sceptile's Poké Ball, knowing that the round was more or less over. "Sceptile retur-" The trainer stopped himself. Sceptile was wounded and weak at the moment, so neither Medicham nor Lucian were expecting for him to let Sceptile continue battling. Especially if…. "Sceptile," Ash's voice was full of assurance, trying to rally his Pokémon's morale. "Use sunny day," He paused. "and aim it at Medicham!"

"Huh?"

"Huh?

"Pika?"

"Cham?"

Obeying without question, Sceptile's hands began to glow as he unleashed a ray of light directly towards Medicham, engulfing the humanoid Pokémon in a blinding beam of light. The fighting type tried to cover his eyes and avert the brilliant radiance from its eyes, but it was a vain attempt.

"Now," Ash knew this would finish up the round. "Follow it up with solar beam!" Using all of the energy he could muster from the radiating light, the yellow bulbs on Sceptile's back began to glow as a powerful green ball of energy formed around the lizard's mouth.

"Medicham, you've got to get out of the way!" Lucian was now beginning to show a hint of worry. His calls went unheard though, as the fighting type couldn't even tell left from right due to the ungodly bright light he was surrounded by.

With all of his energy gathered up, Sceptile unleashed his solar beam, hitting Medicham directly with so much force that it caused the light from sunny day to disperse and fade away. Once the powerful blast began to dissipate, all that was left was Medicham lying on the ground unconscious.

"Impressive…" The purple haired gym leader seemed not so much upset by his loss as he did intrigued by Ash's unorthodox tactics. "Medicham," He said holding up its Poké Ball. "Return.

Ash did the same with Sceptile, retuning the grass type to the safety of his Poké Ball, knowing that all of his energy was more or less spent. "You did great out there, buddy." The trainer said looking at the lizard's Poké Ball adoringly before placing it back on his belt. "Pikachu," He said, causing the yellow mouse's ears to perk up. "are you ready to battle?"

"Pikachu!" He squeaked joyously as he ran past his trainer and onto the battlefield.

"Ash," Misty leaned towards the trainer, speaking in a hushed voice as to not give away his strategy. "Are you sure you don't want to use Mismagius yet?"

"If all goes well, I won't even need to use her." He replied, throwing a smile her way, followed by a wink.

"If you say so." She sighed.

"I've never seen sunny day used in such a way before." Lucian brushed his hair back with his hand. "However unorthodox methods like that can only get you so far." The well dressed man added as he reached for his next Poké Ball.

"They've gotten me this far." Ash retorted.

"Well this is as far as they'll take you." The gym leader tossed his next Poké Ball onto the field. "Go, Girafarig!" The sphere busted open, revealing the long necked Pokémon. It let out a neigh upon its release as it bucked back, kicking its front hooves in the air.

Ash bit down on his lip. Pikachu didn't stand a chance against Girafarig when it came to sheer strength, and even in a test of their special abilities it would be close. Fortunately though, speed was on his side. "Pikachu, use agility!" He shouted, signifying the start of the battle.

The yellow mouse dashed towards the towering giraffe-like Pokémon, shifting in and out of view due to his lightning fast speed. Girafarig held her ground though, not letting her eyes lose track of the electric type.

"You know what to do." Lucian said in serious, yet calm tone.

Girafarig merely kept her eyes on Pikachu as he sprinted towards her. Then just as the rodent was about to dash right under her feet, she bucked back and slammed her hooves into the ground, causing a series of shockwaves to shake the ground around her.

"Earthquake?" Ash had to take a moment for his mind to process what had just happened, quickly growing worried upon realizing what had just happened. "Pikachu!" Worry was quite apparent in his tone. "Jump onto Girafarig and use thunderbolt!"

Following his master's orders, Pikachu leapt up into the air and tried to latch onto the antennas atop of her head, in turn avoiding the powerful shockwaves of earthquake.

"Psybeam."

"Uh oh…"

Just as Pikachu was about to land atop of the psychic type's head, she unleashed a powerful blast of psychic waves from her antennas, sending the wave of energy directly into Pikachu at pointblank range.

"Cha!" He cried as the force of the blast sent him hurdling backwards, landing flat on his stomach.

"Now, follow it up with stomp!" Lucian's Pokémon leapt into the air, achieving a great height before she came crashing down on her front hooves, aiming right for Pikachu. The little mouse looked up to see his opponent's thick hooves closing in on him. On nothing but pure instinct, the mouse leapt to the left, just barely dodging the attack. Girafarig's feet slammed down onto the dirt battlefield, causing a thick cloud of dust to rise around her, leaving two distinct hoof prints in the dirt.

"That was close." Ash sighed in relief. "Pikachu, lets try to get some distance between you and Girafarig!" Not at all objective to the order, Pikachu quickly scurried back onto his feet and took off towards Lucian's side of the gym, making a good amount of distance between himself and the psychic type.

"We've got them on the run," Lucian let out a smile upon seeing the battle going into his favor. "Use psybeam again." With a neigh, Girafarig's antennas began to glow once more as they unleashed a powerful ray of psychic energy directly towards the fleeing Pikachu.

"Move out of the way, Pikachu!" The black haired trainer screamed, clenching his fist. Moving to the left, the electric rodent shifted out of the way of the psychic attack, sending the beam spiraling towards the metal wall.

Pikachu skidded to a halt after seeing that he had avoided the attack, realizing this was a prime chance to fight back. However, before he could turn to face Girafarig, something happened that neither him nor Ash could have ever expected. When the multicolored beam hit the metallic wall, the psychic attack bounced right off of it, and came spiraling back towards Pikachu. Fortunately for the mouse though, he was able to leap out of harms way once again, causing the attack to crash into the other wall and dissipate from there.

"What the?!" Ash was trying to comprehend what he had just seen. "Did that attack just bounce off of the wall?!"

Lucian didn't answer the trainer's question, instead just replying with a snicker.

"Ash!" Misty shouted. "The walls must be made of a special kind of metal that reflects psychic attacks!"

"Reflects psychic attacks?" He had a bit of trouble understanding the concept at first. "Do you mean that…"

"Yes Ash!" Misty was trying to phrase this as simply as possible. "Any psychic attack that hits those walls will just bounce off!"

Understanding what she meant, the trainer turned back to Lucian who was carrying a mischievous smile. "So that's how Medicham hit Sceptile with confusion!"

Lucian nodded, waving a gesture towards the trainer. "That is correct." He replied.

"Pretty clever." Ash glared at the member of the Sinnoh Elite Four. "But it won't do you any good!" He looked towards his loyal starter. "Pikachu, use thunder, and aim for Garafarig's antennas!"

"Pika!" He replied before letting his cheek pouches charge up with electricity. "Piiiiikaaaaaa"

"Garafarig, use zen headbutt." Lowering her head, the psychic type started dashing towards the electric mouse. As she picked up speed, her scalp as well as her antennas began to glow a bright blue. For each step she took, Ash felt his heart skip a beat, hoping that Pikachu could charge up his attack before Garafarig could reach him.

"Chuuu!" The yellow Pokémon unleashed all the power he had in his attack, directing it all towards the glowing antennas atop of Garafarig's head. The lightning arched over from Pikachu to the giraffe-like psychic type, sending thousands of volts of electricity through her entire body, causing her to cry out in pain. Despite this though, she continued pushing through the attack, her head still lowered, not letting up on the zen headbutt.

Watching from the sidelines, Misty could tell that both Ash and Lucian were starting to get a little bit nervous. Both of them had their fists clenched and their teeth biting down on their lower lips. As for the Pokémon, Pikachu's fatigue had started to set in, causing him to slowly let off of his attack. Garafarig on the other hand seemed to be slowly but surely pushing through the powerful thunder attack.

Misty wasn't the only one who saw this though, as Ash was quickly coming to realize that if he and Pikachu didn't up the ante a bit, then Garafarig would plow right through the electric mouse. "Pikachu, meet Garafarig head on with volt tackle!"

Hearing Ash's orders, Lucian began to pull his glasses off, revealing his deep purple eyes. "Brace yourself!" He shouted to his charging Pokémon.

Pikachu ceased discharging his thunder attack, and began to sprint towards his rushing opponent. Once the mouse began to pick up speed, a ball of electricity encircled his small form. "Pika! Pika! Pika! Pika! Pika!" he and Garafarig were about to meet head on, and deep down inside, the mouse wasn't sure if he had enough strength to hold off against the powerful zen headbutt.

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted just before the mouse collided with his opponent. "Shift to the left and hit her in the side!"

"Cha!" The mouse painted. Pikachu leapt directly to the left of Garafarig just before the two powerful attacks made contact with one another. As soon as the mouse landed, he pivoted on his right front paw, and shot himself directly into his opponent's exposed side. Lucian's Pokémon cried out in pain as the electrically charged force slammed into her ribs, sending her crashing to the ground.

"Garafarig!" Lucian exclaimed, worry filling his voice. "Can you get up?"

It let out a weak neigh before pulling itself onto its feet, only for her knees to buckle, causing her to fall down once more. The purple haired member of the Elite Four cringed at the sight of seeing one of his most prized Pokémon in so much pain. "You did well my friend," He raised her Poké Ball. "Why don't you take a long rest." A red light emerged from the sphere, withdrawing the injured Pokémon.

"It looks like I'm two for two." The black haired trainer smirked.

"Indeed you are." Lucian replied coolly. "However your Pikachu doesn't have much fight left in him, and my next Pokémon is notorious for wiping out entire teams." He reached for his last Poké Ball, and took hold of it.

"Ash," Misty whispered. "this doesn't sound good."

"Bronzong, I choose you!"

"Bronzong!" the massive steel type bellowed upon his release. Ash didn't need to be told how powerful this Pokémon was, as he had seen it in action plenty of times.

"Pikachu," The trainer sounded the slightest bit worried for the well being of his Pokémon, knowing how tired he was from his last battle. "Are you sure you want to stay in there?"

"Pika!" He panted.

"Okay…" Ash took a breath before giving his first order. "Start this up with thunderbolt!" Without even needing to gather up energy, the yellow mouse unleashed a powerful zap of electricity towards his metallic opponent.

"Zong!" The steel and psychic type groaned upon feeling his entire metal form become engulfed in the electric charge. The red eyes at the bottom of his totem-like body squinted upon feeling the surge of thunder coarse through him.

"Great job Pikachu!" Ash was happy and also a bit surprised to be getting in an early hit on the floating juggernaut. "Now follow it up with a…"

"Heavy slam!" Lucian ordered before Ash could even finish speaking.

Bronzong quickly shook his daze from Pikachu's thunderbolt, and then flung his quarter-ton body towards the thirteen pound rodent. The mouse let out a squeal just before the mass of bronze crashed down onto him. Once Bronzong's body hit the ground, dirt flew up all around him, leaving a cloud of dust lingering around the mass of metal

Ash and Misty's eyes widened in complete and utter horror of what they just saw. "Pikachu!" His trainer cried out, fearful for his starter's well being.

"Don't worry." Lucian brushed his hair back once more. "Your Pikachu is fine." He paused as he averted his gaze to Bronzong. "Get off of him." Without any hesitation, the massive form of the steel and psychic type began to float above the ground, revealing Pikachu laying facedown on the battlefield, unconscious.

"Oh no!" Ash and Misty darted onto the battlefield, running to the electric mouse's side. "Are you okay, Pikachu?" The trainer from Pallet asked, cradling the Pokémon in his arms.

"Pika." He whimpered, holding up his left paw, trying to signify a thumbs up.

"Aww, poor baby." Misty bent over and took the injured Pokémon into her arms. "I'll take care of Pikachu," The redhead turned her gaze to Ash. "you have a battle to win."

Remembering that he was still competing in a gym battle, the trainer nodded to the Cerulean City Gym Leader before standing up again. As Ash made his way back to his side of the field, he reached for his third and final Poké Ball. He wouldn't necessarily have a type advantage, but it was a Pokémon Lucian wasn't expecting. Once he returned to his battle-box, he turned to face the gym leader once more, his eyes beaming into Lucian's.

"So," The psychic type trainer began to unfasten his red suit jacket, revealing his black shirt and tie underneath. "are you ready for the last round?" He asked as he pulled the jacket off and folded it neatly in his arms before placing it on the ground next to him.

"Hey, I still have Sceptile!" Ash snapped.

"Oh, you planned on using him again?" The sarcasm in his tone was obvious enough for even Ash to notice it. "Let's face it, me and you _both_ know that he's in no condition to battle."

Letting out a sigh, Ash had to admit he was right. Sceptile may still have still technically been able to battle, but there was no way he could stand a chance against Bronzong in his current condition. Ash _had_ to win this round, otherwise it was over.

Clenching Mismagius' Poké Ball, he felt a pit form in his stomach. _Let's hope this training has paid off._ "Mismagius, I choose you!" As soon as the red and white sphere busted open, the playful wraith let out a haunting coo, uttering her name.

"A Mismagius?" The gym leader truly sounded somewhat surprised. "I guess this is one of your recent captures?"

"Sure is." Ash replied in a boastful tone. "And we're gonna take down your Bronzong!"

"I admire your confidence." Lucian chuckled. "Now let's just see if you can back it up!" He took a stance and pointed directly across the battlefield, his finger zeroing in on the ghostly figure floating before Bronzong. "Use psywave!"

Bronzong's red eyes began to glow as a white ring formed in front of him. Mismagius merely hovered in place, her expression quite serious; a complete polarization of her normal, playful demeanor. Once Bronzong had focused enough power into his attack, the steel type unleashed the white ring, sending it flying towards the ghost type.

"Mismagius, fade out!" Just as the psychic attack was about to crash into her, the ghost began to fade into a translucent form, allowing the ring to pass right through her, only to bounce off of the metallic wall behind her. "Now move!" Just before the psywave hit her in the back, she shifted to the side, causing the glowing white circle to hit Bronzong square between the eyes. However, the steel and psychic type was hardly fazed by his attack bouncing back at him, merely shaking it off.

"Clever," Lucian praised. "using my own tactics against me."

"Now just wait until I show you what Mismagius can _really _do!"

"Oh, I look forward to it."

"Mismagius, use shadow ball!" The feminine ghost began to ascend into the air, hovering above Bronzong, and lifted her ghostly arms behind her head as she charged up a crackling ball of dark energy. Her pink, stitched on mouth began to form into a crooked, almost demented smile as she flung the powerful ghost attack towards her opponent.

"Bronzong, use trick room!" Bronzong's eyes began to glow a brighter shade of red as four walls formed around the battlefield, entrapping him and Mismagius inside. The second he did this, the massive steel type zoomed out of the way of the ghoul's shadow ball at near blinding speeds.

"What?!" Ash was completely blindsided by Lucian's order. "Mismagious, you've got to mo-"

"Zong!" The steel type slammed into the ghost from behind at a ludicrously fast speed, sending the her spiraling to the ground.

"Mismaaag!" She squealed, hitting hard against the dirt.

"You've got to get up, Mismagius!" The shrouded figure tried to lift herself off the ground, but the trick room was slowing down her pace to a crawl. Meanwhile, hovering above her, Bronzong gazed down at her with a menacing look in his cold metal eyes.

"Finish her with flash cannon." Lucian had regained his composure, no longer yelling his orders. The bell shaped Pokémon aimed his hollow bottom towards the struggling ghost, gathering up energy inside of its empty body. Mismagius slowly lifted her head up to see Bronzong charging up the devastating attack, knowing there was no way she could move out of the way.

Things were beginning to look quite hopeless. If Mismagius went down, then there'd be no way he could win with Sceptile. Thinking quickly, Ash resorted to a move that he had just recently taught to the ghost. "Mismagius, counter it with charge beam!"

Grunting as she pulled her arms together as she began to gather electricity in her invisible hands, taking aim at her looming opponent. Just as Bronzong unleashed the powerful blast from his hollow interior, Mismagius fired a beam of electricity from her hands, meeting flash cannon dead in the middle.

The trainer from Pallet clenched his fists as he watched on from behind the transparent walls of trick room, praying that the electric attack would hold off the steel based attack. Though electricity didn't have an advantage over steel, it was resistant to it, and that may have been just what Mismagius needed to hold off Bronzong's flash cannon. Sure enough, the charge beam began to push through Bronzong's flash cannon, causing the steel attack to dissipate as the blast of electricity plowed through and hit Bronzong head on.

"Zong!" He uttered, slowly descending towards the ground as he tried to regain his composure.

"Now's your chance Mismagius!" Ash called to her. "Use shadow ball on the walls and break the trick room!" Nodding, the ghost powered up another dark ball of energy, this time aiming for the psychic powered walls that restricted her movement.

"Bronzong, don't let her do that!" Quickly pulling himself back into the battle, the floating totem began screaming towards Mismagius with his ungodly speed.

"Aim it at Bronzong!" Ash shouted, changing the target. Without missing a beat, Mismagius redirected her aim at the steel type that was quickly closing in on her, tossing the powerful ball of dark energy towards her opponent. Bronzong, unable to move out of the way in time, met head on with the attack. He bellowed out his name as the ghost type move sent the psychic type flying backwards, even causing his gargantuan body to slam into the ground.

"Bronzong!" Lucian was beginning to grow a little bit worried. His steel body may have helped protect him from ghost attacks, but taking a shadow ball head on like that would have made even the strongest of Pokémon crumble.

Ash could see the steel type begin to slowly ascend, trying to recover from Mismagius' shadow ball. Knowing he had to act fast, Ash gave the ghost another order. "Use will-o-wisp!" The ghoul raised her arms up, creating six purple fireballs around her. Once they all formed, she motioned her ghostly arms forward, sending all six of the fireballs directly towards the steel type.

"Get out of the w-" Before Lucian's order could even reach the dazed Pokémon, the dark fireballs crashed against his metallic body, engulfing the steel type in flames.

"Zoooonnnng!" He bellowed, quickly raising himself off of the ground. The flames seared all across his steel body, causing him to panic and to send his metallic form flying all around the battlefield in a desperate attempt to extinguish the flames. Due to trick room increasing his speed, he dashed around the encased battlefield at breakneck speeds, causing him to accidentally slam his body into the transparent walls that surrounded the battlefield.

"Bronzong!" Lucian seemed to have forgotten about the battle, and was more worried about his Pokémon's well being.

Ash was beginning to feel the same way. It truly ached him to see a Pokémon in that much pain, but it was the only way he could have had a chance at winning the battle. "Mismagius…" He was about to order another shadow ball to finish off the battle, however he just couldn't bring himself to inflict any more pain on Bronzong, who'd obviously been defeated at this point. "Use rain dance."

"Huh?" Misty was completely bewildered by Ash's order. "What are you doing? You can finish this right now!"

The trainer turned to the redhead, and shook his head. "It's already over."

Mismagius began waving her ghostly arms in the air once more, summoning a cloud over the battlefield. Once the dark cloud had taken form, raindrops began to pour onto them, bringing an end to the flames that burned through Bronzong's metallic body.

"Bron…zong." He groaned as he crashed to the ground, smoke rising from his body. Shortly after slamming into the gym floor, the four transparent walls surrounding the Pokémon slowly began to vanish.

"Bronzong!" Lucian ran over to his Pokémon's side, placing his hand on his metal body. As soon as the Elite Four Member placed his bare hand on the searing hot metal that made up Bronzong's body, he quickly pulled it away. "Ah!" He yelped, taking hold of his burnt hand. Taking a moment to flick his hand to shake off the pain, he turned back to his unconscious Pokémon. "Rest well my friend," He said as he reached for the steel type's Poké Ball, and recalled him. "I'll get you to a Pokémon Center as soon as I can."

"I'm so sorry!" Ash ran up to Lucian while Misty followed closely behind with Pikachu cradled in her arms. "I didn't meant to hur-"

"It's fine, Ash." The gym leader silenced the trainer. "What you did at the end was quite honorable."

"I..it was?"

He nodded. "Any other trainer would have used that opportunity to make sure their opponent was finished. You on the other hand, knew when to stop fighting."

"I just did what I thought was right." Ash replied sheepishly, still feeling guilty for inflicting so much pain onto Lucian's Pokémon.

The psychic master smiled. "That's what makes you so special." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge shaped like a card. "You consider the well being of the Pokémon over just merely winning at any cost." He handed the badge over to Ash. "And that is a quality of a true Pokémon Master."

Ash felt a tinge of joy rise in him, honored by the compliment. "T..that really means a lot." He replied, taking the badge into his hand.

"This is the Tarot Badge." Lucian said as Ash gazed at the rectangular brooch. "I guess I should also be the first to congratulate you on making it to the Master League."

"Mismagius!" The ghost squealed as she blissfully floated over to her trainer to congratulate him as well, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a hug.

"It looks like you've already got a fangirl, Ash." Misty joked.

"Looks like it." He laughed, returning the Pokémon's hug.

"Maaaag!" She happily squealed.

Lucian cracked a smile. "That is a very impressive Mismagius you have there." He paused. "I can't wait to see her compete in the Master League."

"Assuming we can even make it to the Master League in time." Misty directed the comment towards her boyfriend. "Especially with how slow _he_ can be."

"Hey!" He glared at the redhead. "Those are some pretty bold words coming from Ms. 'Takes hour long showers whenever we get to a new town'."

"At least I try to stay clean!" Misty shot back

While the two teens continued their bickering, Lucian just rolled his eyes and made his way out of the gym so he could take his Pokémon to the nearby Pokémon Center, leaving the two to argue. _That redhead is quite a bit feistier than that Dawn girl._ He noted as he exited the building.

Neither Ash nor Misty took notice of Lucian's leaving though, continuing their petty argument for almost a solid minute before realizing that they were all alone in the gym.

"Where did Lucian go?" Ash ceased the arguing, looking around the gym for the purple haired trainer.

"He probably got tired of hearing you talk so much." Misty snapped.

"Hey!"

"Oh would you just relax?" Misty rolled her eyes and walked up to the trainer. "Besides," She said, placing her face merely inches away from Ash's. "we need to stop by the nearest Pokémon Center and get everyone ready for the Master League." She then planted a light kiss on Ash's lips.

"Pika." An irritated voice came from Misty's arms. Both of them looked down to see Pikachu looking up at them with disapproving eyes.

"Oh," Misty giggled. "Sorry Pikachu, I forgot you were there."

The mouse remained silent, merely rolling his eyes.

"Oh c'mon Pikachu," Ash's voice was filled with excitement. "we're going to the Master League!"

That was all the mouse needed to hear before a big smile stretched across his face. "Pika chu!" He cried in joy, finding the strength to leap from Misty's arms, and into Ash's. As the mouse began to lick away at his master's face, Ash began to laugh and pet his loyal friend as he did so.

Misty made a warm smile as she watched the trainer and his Pokémon, thinking back to the words she said back in Viridian Forest all those years ago. _I've never known anyone like him. He really does love Pokémon._

* * *

Well, I guess this is goodbye for now, everybody... I just want all of you guys to know that it really pains me to go an indefinite amount of time without updating, but I want for these next chapters to be some of the best I've ever produced. I can promise you, the wait will be more than worth it.

Well, if you guys have any questions, just PM me or leave them in the reviews and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Oh, and one last thing I'd like to mention before I go...

As I write these words, "A Master's Journey" is currently the 11th most followed Ash and Misty fanfic in the K-T section... Out of 2,208 Ash and Misty fanfics, mine is the eleventh most followed... Just... Wow... You guys have no idea how happy that makes me. When I first started writing this, I thought "Oh _maybe_ I'll get like four or five people who like it." But never... _never_ did I think that I'd be ranked the number 11th most followed Ash and Mist fic... Just f***ing wow...

I want for all 70 of you who have favorited this story, all 91 of you following this story, and the 21,736 of you who have viewed this story to know that every single one of you mean so much to me, and it makes me so, so happy to know that I've manage to entertain all of you with my story.

Which is why I want to make sure that these next chapters are the best I have to offer, and are truly the chapters that you guys deserve.

I love every single one of ya, and just in case I don't update before Christmas, I want to wish every single last one you reading this a very holly jolly and merry Christmas.

With all my love to every last one of you

Mr. Michael Mars.

Stay classy, you guys.


	28. Destination: The Master League!

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack!

Damn, I missed you guys!

Alrightalrightalright, so I have been working on this story for a bit now, but it was at a snails pace. It was then that I realized that I just can't work on this story and get it out at a reasonable time unless I'm under pressure. So as much as I wish I could put out every single chapter of the Master League out at once, it just isn't happening.

BUT there is good news...

Like I said, quite a few chapters are done and I can upload them regularly, while at the same time continue working on future chapters.

But enough of my babbling, you aren't here to read my excuses, you're here to read this story!

Enjoy!

* * *

"Misty, I can see it!" The black haired trainer darted down the dirt road, growing closer and closer to the vastly populated oceanfront city that was Corsola Beach. Off in the distance, Ash could see the metropolis spread out before him, its towers ripping through the clouds like swords reaching up to the heavens. Almost every building higher taller than four stories had drapes hanging down from them reading "Master League; November 1st-6th".

The trainer felt a warmness fill him as he read the giant bold letters that ran down the thick cloth, knowing that he was one of only a handful of trainers who were privileged enough to partake in the massive event. However, it wasn't until he saw the looming structure near the center of the city that Ash truly began to feel a rush of excitement fill his veins.

The massive coliseum stood well over two hundred feet tall, and at least six times as long. There wasn't a doubt in the trainer's mind that the massive structure could hold at the very least fifty thousand people. It didn't have a roof though, instead allowing for the wonderful ocean air to fill the inside of the arena. Ash had seen countless battles take place in this very stadium on t.v. before; from exhibitions to championship matches. However, television just didn't do this fantastic structure justice. This was _the_ world famous Zerra Stadium.

"Wait up, Ash!" Misty panted as she tried to catch up with the ambitious trainer, who had not realized that he had begun running towards the city. "The stadium isn't going anywhere!"

"Oh," He slowed to a walking pace, allowing for the redhead to catch up. "sorry about that. I'm just _really_ excited!"

"I can tell." She giggled as she caught up to him.

"What's so funny?" He gave her a bit of an inquisitive stare, wondering what she found so amusing.

"Just you."

"Just me?"

"Yup, just you."

His stare began to shift to a perplexed expression. "Whaddya mean?"

Misty snickered. "You're acting just like you were when you first made it into the Indigo League and the Silver Conference." A warm smile began to form in her expression. "You're so excited and full of life." She paused. "It makes me feel a bit nostalgic, that's all."

"Well you might want to go see a doctor then." Ash replied.

The gym leader was completely baffled by his words. "What?" She asked, confusion overtaking her.

"Nostalgic, that's when your head's stopped up, right?"

Misty slammed her palm against her face, making a loud '_smack_'. "What on earth do I see in you?" She sighed, pulling her hand from her face.

"Whaddya mean? That _is_ what nostalgic means, right?"

Misty shook her head with what looked to be an almost tired expression. "No, that's not what it means."

"Oh." The black haired trainer seemed a bit dumbfounded upon this realization. "Uh, well, mind explaining what it means then?"

Misty sighed once again, unable to believe that she was having to explain something so trivial to a seventeen year old. "It means…"

"Mr. Ketchum!" A feminine voice shouted from afar, catching both trainer's attention.

Off in the distance, they could see a well dressed brunet woman holding a wireless microphone in her right hand. Directly behind her was a three man camera crew, one carrying a camera, while the other two seemed to be toting around sound equipment. Her and the crew seemed to be making a B-line directly towards the two trainers, more specifically the one from Pallet.

"Mr. Ketchum, my name is Abigail Carter of the Zerra Regional News Station. Would you my answering a few questions?" Her question was more of an announcement. She shoved the microphone into Ash and Pikachu's faces, while the cameraman stationed his high-dollar news camera uncomfortably close to the trainer's face. "Is it true that you have obtained all eight of your badges and are now about to enter the Master League?" The reporter was practically shoving the microphone down his throat.

"Uhh…" The trainer was more than taken back by her interrogation of an interview. "Yeah."

Without even allowing him a second to breath, she pushed the microphone even closer to him and pressed another question. "Is it also true that you and Ms. Waterflower are in a relationship?"

As soon as Abigail asked the question, both Ash and Misty turned a bright shade of crimson as their cheeks began to flush. "Well…" Ash began to speak. "You see…"

Before he could say another word, Misty knocked him over the head and pushed him out of the way of the camera, taking his spot in the interview. "We're not comfortable with answering that question." She said in a surprisingly professional voice. Her tone was sweet and in no way showed the ill will she felt towards the rather rude and intrusive reporter.

"So then you are confirming that you and Mr. Ketchum here are indeed an item?"

"What?!" Misty's blush reemerged with a vengeance. "That's not what I said!"

"I'm pretty sure that you just said that you and Mr. Ketchum don't feel comfortable talking about your relationship." Her tone wasn't the least bit malicious, but Misty had begun losing her patience with the reporter's assumptions, albeit correct assumptions.

The redhead looked over towards Zerra Stadium, which was only about a block away, then looked down at Ash who was still shaking off the hit to the head he had received only moments earlier. Thinking fast, she turned to the news crew and looked directly past them, pointing off in the distance. "Is that Lance over there?!"

Falling for it, the entire news team averted their eyes away from Misty and Ash, staring at the crowded sidewalk across the street, looking for the Kanto Champion.

Taking the opportunity she was given, Misty quickly grabbed Ash by the arm and pulled him along with her. The two began to dash towards the stadium, leaving the reporter and her crew behind.

"Ah!" Ash yelped, taken back by Misty suddenly pulling him along side her. "What are you doing?"

"Getting away from those guys, what does it look like?"

"Okay." Ash mumbled, using his free hand to rub the soar spot on his head. "Did you have to hit me on the head like that?"

"If I didn't you'd have spilled your guts and announced to the world that we were together!" The gym leader seemed quite put off by the idea of her and Ash's relationship being public knowledge.

"W…why don't you want everyone to know?" Ash's tone was doleful, not even attempting to hide how off-put he was.

"Because…." She ceased running and loosened her grip on Ash's arm. Before telling Ash her reasoning, she looked off in the distance to see that the news crew was lost amongst the crowd and wouldn't be a problem for them anymore. "Because I don't like the idea of the media prying into our social life." She grasped the trainer's hand with both of hers, and began rubbing her thumbs against his palm. "You really do mean a lot to me Ash." Misty said warmly. "It's just I don't like the idea of some news lady sticking her nose in it, that's all."

"Oh." The black haired trainer didn't seem too convinced, but he went with it anyways. "Okay."

Nodding with a smile, Misty resumed making her way towards the gates of Zerra Stadium, holding Ash's hand along the way. Standing before the metal gate was an elderly man with a scruffy white beard. It was hard to tell from a distance, but it appeared that he was leaning against the gate, taking a nap.

"Excuse me, sir." Judging by the man seeming a bit startled by Ash's words, the two came to the conclusion that he had indeed been sleeping. "My name is Ash Ketchum, and I've got all eight of my Master League Badges." He said proudly opening up his jacket to reveal all eight of his hard earned brooches. The Venom Badge, the Power Badge, the Night Badge, the Fireball Badge, the Shadow Badge, the Tundra Badge, the Scale Badge, and his newest one, the Tarot Badge.

"Those are really nice." The elderly man replied before leaning back against the fence, closing his eyes.

"Uh… Aren't you gonna let us in?"

"If you want to get a room in the Zerra Stadium Pokémon Village, then ya gotta register first."

"Okay…" Ash began to scratch the back of his head, feeling the slightest bit put off by the old man. "Well where do I register?"

The man opened his eyes back up, and pointed southward. "That Pokémon Center right over there." He answered. "Just show Nurse Joy your badges and your Pokédex, and she'll give you and your lady friend here a pass to get in."

"Alright, thanks… I guess." Ash and Misty began making their way towards the Pokémon Center, both of them a bit puzzled by the man's odd behavior. "He's kinda weird." Ash whispered.

"He was kinda lazy if you ask me." She snooted, not even trying to conceal her voice. However, the elderly man took no notice of this as he had already drifted off to sleep again.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Well Mr. Ketchum, it looks like everything checks out." The soft spoken Nurse Joy said as she made a few keystrokes into the keyboard. "I'll go print out you and Ms. Waterflower a pass to get into the Pokémon Village." She added with a cheery smile before walking to the back of the Pokémon Center, closing the door behind her.

"Wow, the Pokémon Village." Ash placed his hands behind his head and leaned back. "That brings back some memories." He began to think back to the Indigo League, and how he Brock and Misty all shared a cabin during the competition. The sense of nostalgia brought a smile to his face. "Don't you remember that, Misty?"

"How could I forget having to sleep in the same room with your snoring?"

Ash gave her a slightly vexed look. "Oh c'mon Mist, my snoring isn't _that_ bad."

"How would you even know?" She shot. "You haven't ever heard it before!"

"Because I have Pikachu!" He looked over at the yellow rodent sitting atop of his shoulder. "Isn't that right, Pikachu? My snoring isn't that bad, right?"

The mouse bit down on his lip and started scratching the back of his left ear. "Pikachu." he mumbled. Even Ash's most loyal Pokémon had to admit that his master's snores wouldn't only wake the dead, they'd wake the dead, and promptly make them go deaf.

"Thanks a lot, Pikachu." Ash grumbled. Before the conversation could continue any further, a feminine voice rang from the entrance of the Pokémon Center.

"Ash!" A young girl called to the trainer. Initially Ash rolled his eyes, thinking that it was another news reporter wanting to ask for an interview. With a strong sense of reluctance, he turned to face the person calling to him. He wasn't given much choice really. Even if he could somehow manage to walk out of the Pokémon Center and avoid the interview, he'd still be without a pass to get into Zerra Stadium.

"Yeah?" He groaned as he turned around. However as soon as his eyes gazed upon the girl calling to him, he felt his mouth go agape with surprise; Pikachu followed suit. Before the trainer stood a familiar young brown haired and blue eyed girl with a green bandanna tied around her head.

"M..May?"

Misty turned to face the girl after seeing Ash's shocked expression. As soon as the redhead saw the young Coordinator, her expression quickly began to match Ash's. "May?" She gasped. "What are you doing here?"

Without even taking a moment to explain her presence there, she dashed towards the two teens, squealing in joy as she did so. "I knew I'd find you two!" She leapt onto Ash and gave him a tight hug, completely taking the black haired trainer by surprise.

"Uh… Good to see you too, May." Ash was still too bewildered and dumbfounded to show his excitement. "What are you doing here anyways?" He pushed the question Misty asked just seconds ago.

May let go of her former traveling companion, and smiled. "We won one of our contests in Johto, and the prize was a ribbon _and _two tickets to the Master League!"

"We?" Misty spoke as she approached Ash and May.

"Yeah," She turned to Misty and pointed towards the Pokémon Center's entrance. "Me and Drew!"

Both Ash and Misty looked over at the door to see the green haired Coordinator standing off to the side, seemingly trying to remain out of sight.

"You mean you and Drew teamed up in a contest?" Ash seemed quite taken back.

"Sure did!" She replied exuberantly. "He's actually a really sweet guy once you get to know em'." Though none of them could see this, Drew began to hide his face so his blush of embarrassment wouldn't show. "So have you gotten all eight of your badges yet, Ash?!" May quizzed, quickly pulling the conversation back on track.

"You better believe I do!" He boasted as he opened up his jacket to show off the eight badges. "I'm actually waiting for my pass to get into the Pokémon Village right now!" His excitement was more than obvious.

"What about you Misty?" May turned to the redhead. "Do you get to stay at the Pokémon Village too?"

With a smile, she nodded. "Yup." She answered. "I'm Ash's guest, so I get to share a cabin with him." She added a playful wink at the end of her sentence.

May narrowed her eyes, finding something a bit off in Misty's statement, the wink at the end only further driving her suspicion. "Wait a second…" She beamed her eyes towards Ash, then back at Misty, then back at Ash again.

Ash narrowed his eyes, slightly perplexed by the girl's odd behavior. "Is something wrong, May?"

"Pika pikachu?" His Pokémon added.

Then with a sudden jolt, May's eyes widened as she placed her hand over her mouth. Though her head remained stationary, her blue eyes continued shifting between Ash and Misty, making it quite obvious that she had placed the pieces together. "You two are together, aren't you?!"

Misty's cheeks flushed slightly as she giggled; Ash's face just turned solid red.

May let out a gasp upon seeing their reactions. "You are!" She squealed. She turned and directed her attention towards Ash. "I _knew_ you had a thing for her!"

The Cerulean Gym Leader raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the Coordinator's. "What do you mean?"

"You didn't know?" May turned to the redhead. "Back in Hoenn, Ash talked about you _all_ the time."

"Oh, did he now?" She threw a look over at Ash, who had at this point lowered his cap over his eyes.

"Mhmmm." May replied. "He'd always say stuff like 'If Misty where here, she'd do this.' or 'Ya know, when Misty was with us, we'd do things this way.' and whenever we saw something really cool, he'd say something like 'Wow, Misty would just _love_ this, I wish she was here right now'."

"Aww." The redhead walked over to her boyfriend's side. "I didn't know you missed me that much." She placed a light peck on his cheek, causing the already embarrassed trainer to shake in his shoes.

"Here's your pass Mr. Ketchum." Nurse Joy's soft voice filled the room.

"Coming!" The black haired trainer quickly seized the opportunity to get out of the awkward situation, dashing over to the front desk.

"This will get you into the Pokémon Village, and it'll be your key to your cabin as well." The nurse handed over a golden card to the trainer. It was made of solid plastic, and on the front of it was the Pokémon League emblem, with a few numbers printed onto the top of the card. The back was completely blank though, aside from a black bar that Ash supposed was for unlocking an electronic lock. "And this one is for your friend." Joy added as she handed over a card virtually identical to the first one, only being silver instead of gold. "This card will allow her access to anywhere except for competitor only areas."

"Gotcha." Ash replied as he took the silver card from the nurse. "Hey May, Drew, why don't you come with us and check out the Pokémon Village?"

May's brilliant blue eyes lit up like two shimmering aquamarines. "We'd love to!" She turned towards the green haired teen who was still standing off to the side. "Doesn't that sound awesome, Drew?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." He replied.

Ash leaned towards May. "I don't remember Drew being so quiet."

"He's not." She replied. "He's just still a little bit airsick from the flight over."

"Hey!" He shot. "It was just a little stomach bug, that's all." He tried to regain his composure in the latter part of his statement.

May rolled her eyes "Yeah, _sure_ it was."

Drew let out a growl, acting as though his ego had been bruised by May's remark. "Okay, whatever." He grumbled. "Let's just go to the Pokémon Village so I can take a nap."

"Aww, is poor Drew still feelin' sick? Should we just go back to the hotel and call it a night?" May was now trying to press his buttons, taking it even further when she walked up next to him and began poking him in the side.

As the two went back and forth, Misty and Ash watched from the side. "Look familiar, Ash?" The redhead nudged the trainer in the side with her elbow, a little grin spread across her face.

"No, not really."

Misty let out a sigh, deciding not to try and spell out the point she was trying to get across. "Let's just get going.

After breaking up the playful bickering between May and Drew, the four made their way out of the Pokémon Center, and back outside. Fortunately, it seemed that the news crew had migrated away from the stadium, possibly because they found one of the champions and were smothering them to get an interview.

As they all approached the stadium gates, they began exchanging in small talk. Initially their conversations were based around what they had been doing over the past couple months, and then began to morph into trivial subjects like something strange they saw somebody wear, or funny tales about odd encounters they had seen during their journeys.

Once they came up to the stadium gates though, Ash's interest in the conversation instantly dissipated as he caught a glance of a certain figure approaching the gate. Clad in black, and his long, scruffy, white hair running down his back; the trainer was instantly able to place a name with the figure.

"Damian!" Ash darted towards the man in the trench coat, leaving May, Drew, and Misty slightly dumbfounded.

"Hm?" He turned to face the black haired trainer, his hands in his pockets. "Do I know you?" He asked in a slightly agitated tone.

"Don't you remember me?" Ash asked as he approached the winner of the Indigo League. "We met just outside of Rubyville."

After looking at the black haired trainer confusedly for a moment, he was finally able to recall the event he was talking about. "Oh." He said snapping his fingers. "You're that… Alex Ketsum kid?" He seemed unsure of the name.

"Ash Ketchum." The trainer corrected, trying to hide his annoyance. "Well you said that you'd accept a Pokémon battle if I made it into the Master League," He opened up his jacket, revealing his gym badges. "and I've got my eight badges. So I want to have a battle!"

Damian let out a sigh, remembering that he had indeed said such a thing to the trainer. Had he not been so sure that Ash wouldn't have made it this far, he wouldn't have made the offer. However, Ash had made it this far, and Damian was obligated to stay true to his word. "Alright." He groaned. "We can have a quick one on one battle." He maid no attempt to hide his annoyance.

"What's going on?" May leaned towards Misty, a bit puzzled by the conversation going on before them.

"It's a long story." She replied. "I'll tell you later."

"It looks like they're about to battle." Drew added, stepping closer so he could get a good view of the clash he was sure was about to ensue.

Ash and Damian took a few steps back, allowing for them to get a good distance away before starting up their battle. The trainer from Pallet looked over at the yellow mouse sitting atop his shoulder, and gave him a nod. "You got this, Pikachu?"

"Pika!" He replied, hopping down from his shoulder. As soon as his paws hit the ground, his ears and tail perked up as he readied for battle.

"So that's your Pokémon?" Damian hardly seemed interested.

"Yeah!"

"Alright." The trainer reached into his pocket and pulled out a single Poké Ball. "Absol, let's make this quick." He halfheartedly tossed the red and white orb onto the ground, freeing the dark type from its spherical prison.

"Go get em', Ash!" May cheered from the side.

As a complete polarization to May's optimism, Misty began to bite down on her lip, worried that Ash was biting off a little bit more than he could chew.

Ash gazed at his opponent's Absol, taking note of its shinning coat and excellent physical condition. There was no doubt that this battle wasn't going to be easy, but he was still confident that he could win. "Pikachu, start this off with a quick attack!" Ash ordered, knowing that if he could get an early hit in, he might be able to keep Absol on the defensive.

The electric rodent started dashing towards the dark type with blinding speed. Despite this, Absol remained perfectly poised, not letting Pikachu cause her to wince in the slightest. Once the electric type closed in for the attack, the Pokémon finally reacted, though without receiving an order from Damian. Just as Pikachu charged forward, Absol leapt into the air, causing the mouse to hit nothing but air.

"Wow!" Drew exclaimed. "That Absol must've leapt twenty feet in the air!"

"And it was so fast!" May added, her voice filled with awe.

Misty remained silent, biting down on her fingernails as she watched the battle ensue. _Ash, Damian is no pushover. Please be careful._

"Now counter with shadow ball." Damian showed no intensity in his voice whatsoever. The one horn atop Absol's head began to glow as a crackling ball of darkness charged up before she flung her head forward, sending the shadow ball crashing towards Pikachu.

"Look out!" Ash shouted. Pikachu looked over his shoulder to see the dark ball of energy coming towards him, and shifted his forward momentum to the left, allowing him to move out of the way of the powerful attack.

Damian snickered upon seeing Pikachu dodge the attack. "Absol," He spoke as the dark type landed on all fours. "use future sight." The dark type's eyes began to glow blue as she channeled a powerful force of psychic energy.

"Pikachu!" Ash called to his Pokémon. "Now's your chance, take it down now with volt tackle!" Heeding his orders, Pikachu began dashing towards his opponent, a surge of electricity surrounding his entire body as he charged towards Absol.

"Pika! Pika! Pika! Pika!" The electric mouse lunged forward, certain that he could take down his opponent in a single hit. However Absol once again leapt into the air with its powerful legs just before Pikachu was able to smash into her.

"No!" The trainer from Pallet growled. "Use thunderbolt while its in the air!" Skidding to a halt, Pikachu pivoted on his front paws, and turned to face the dark type that was still falling back towards the ground. Instead of charging up his attack though, Pikachu simply discharged all of the energy he had gathered with volt tackle, sending an arc of electricity towards his opponent. The attack hit, causing Absol to cry out in pain as she continued falling to the ground, but still managing to land on all fours.

"Finish it." Damian spoke calmly. Absol's eyes began to glow once again, this time with the true power of future sight. A ray shot from Absol's eyes, hitting the unsuspecting Pikachu square in the stomach, sending him flying back, landing facedown on the ground. It didn't take long for both of the trainers to see that the electric rodent wasn't going to get up.

"Pikachu!" Ash darted over to his Pokémon, and held him in his arms. "Are you okay?" He looked down at his starter, worry filling his eyes.

"Pi." The rodent whimpered weakly before passing out in his trainer's arms.

Misty, May, and Drew dashed towards Ash's side. May reached into her bag and pulled out a super potion, spraying the healing vapors over the Pokémon's wounds. "That should make you feel better, Pikachu." She said in a soothing voice as the wounds began to slowly heal upon making contact with the spray.

Off to the side, Damian pulled out Absol's Poké Ball, and withdrew her. "That was a bit disappointing." He mumbled before turning back towards the Stadium. Without another word, the powerful trainer began making his way towards the gates, not even acknowledging his opponent.

"Hey!" Misty snarled, her voice sharp and stern like invisible razors piercing into Damian's eardrums. "Aren't you going to at least show a little sportsmanship? The least you could do is show a bit of respect by at least saying 'Good battle'!"

"Hmph" He stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder, allowing his cold, dark eyes to glare into Misty's, sending a shiver down her spine. It was like looking into the eyes of darkness itself. There was no sympathy, no emotion, no anything, except his icy stare. "Good battle?" He huffed. "If anything, that was probably the most pathetic battle I've had since I got to Zerra."

Without another word, he turned away from the four teens, and made his way through the gates of the Stadium, leaving Ash with not only the bitter taste of defeat, but also the sour taste of humiliation. However those two flavors couldn't compare to the spicy taste of detest he felt for Damian.

* * *

Okie dokie, you guys will be getting another chapter on Sunday (possibly Monday, it's really relative to how much of the chapter I'm currently working on gets done). But regardless, I want to get back to giving you guys regular updates, cause by God you all deserve them!

Oh, and funnily enough, at the moment I'm posting this chapter, I just now have 100 Favorites... Funny how the stars align like that.

Oh, and one last thing. Regarding May and Drew, the reason they're here is because I didn't want Misty just sitting around and doing nothing but watching Ash battle for the next few chapters, so I brought them in to allow for more interaction between characters. As for the... shipping (God, I hate that word) between May and Drew, don't expect me to go in depth on it, I might give implications, but nothing more than that.

Well guys, I'll see you next time, and don't forget how much I love ya!

See ya!


	29. Let The Master League Begin!

Sorry I'm a day late, but like I said the rate in which chapters are posted are going to be relative to how much of the ones I'm working on are completed.

Anyways, not too much happens here. We're getting some buildup to the Master League, and Ash's first battle will start in the next chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

The darkness of nightfall was brightened by the glowing moon that hovered over Zerra Stadium, while the inside of the coliseum was even brighter due to the powerful lights that shone down onto the battlefield where all of the battles would be taking place on when the Master League competition began. The stands were packed as nearly fifty thousand people crammed into the seats surrounding the arena, while all thirty-one competitors remained seated on the sidelines, along with their guests.

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen!" A feminine voice that was truly made for radio boomed over the loudspeakers surrounding the stadium. "I'm DJ Mary from Goldenrod Radio, and I'm here with my co-host, and Pokémon expert, Bill!"

"And it is certainly great to be here, Mary!" He replied, his voice filled with enthusiasm. "We have quite a lineup of trainers here, and I look forward to seeing what they all have to bring to the table!"

Misty chuckled upon hearing who the announcers were, realizing that she had had personally met both of them on separate occasions. Her, Ash, and Brock had met Bill at his lighthouse back when Ash's journey first began, and DJ Mary during their travels through Johto.

"That's pretty cool, isn't it Ash?" She said, elbowing the black haired trainer next to her. "Them being the announcers, I mean."

Ash looked over at the redhead, his eyes cold, his expression blank. "Sure, I guess." He mumbled before crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. His battle with Damian earlier that day had truly hit him hard. He hadn't even begun the tournament, and he'd already faced a bitter loss to one of its most powerful competitors.

"Ash," Misty frowned, a bit upset to see the normally outgoing trainer feeling so down. "are you _still_ upset about that battle?"

"What do you think?" He snapped.

The Cerulean Gym Leader glared at him, clearly miffed by his aggressive response. "Hey!" She snarled. "Just because you lost, doesn't give you the right to get mad at me!"

"Well excuse me, Little Ms. Mermaid, but I'm not exactly in the best mood right now!" The black haired trainer was clearly just as agitated with her as she was with him.

"So?" Misty hissed. "That doesn't mean its okay for you to get upset with me!"

"Look who's talkin'." Ash quipped before turning away from her and pulling his cap down to cover his eyes.

The redhead really had no retort for that. He was completely right. Whenever she became the slightest bit upset about something, Ash was always the first to receive the blunt of her fury. Who was she to tell Ash he had no right to direct his anger towards her when she did exactly that whenever she became upset?

She shook her head, dismissing the topic from her mind, knowing that wasn't what was really bothering her. What bothered her was how upset Ash was about his recent loss. The last time she'd seen him lose that badly was during his battle with Flint a few months back, and just like last time, he was taking the loss hard. She was certain that the trainer would get over it, but now was not the time for Ash to begin having doubts in his abilities as a trainer.

"And here come the gym leaders!" Mary announced as all eight of the Zerran gym leaders entered through the south entrance, making their way onto the field. Ash lifted his cap up upon hearing this, watching on as the eight Elite Four members passed him by.

Koga, Bruno, Agatha, Flint, Karen, Glacia, Drake, and Lucian all took a seat on the side opposite of the trainers. Once they were all seated, they began to converse with one another about subjects that neither Ash nor Misty could hear from that far away.

After the gym leaders had taken their seats, Bill's voice filled the speakers. "Now, everyone please give a warm welcome to the Pokémon League Champions!"

Ash, Misty, as well as the rest of the trainers on the field, all turned towards the entrance, excitedly awaiting to see the champions. Even Paul and Damian took note of this. The first to enter was Cynthia, of Sinnoh. Her long blonde hair flowed elegantly down her back, while her big hazel colored eyes looked on at the cheering crowd as she waved at them. Behind her was Steven Stone of Hoenn, who kept his hands in his pockets, and merely nodded towards the audience. Lastly, and possibly the most anticipated, was Lance, the dragon champion of Johto and Kanto. His red and black cape flowed behind the red haired champion, stylishly waving like a flag as the wind blew against it.

The entire stadium erupted with a booming applause as the champions made their way across the battlefield. Ash couldn't help but feel a bit of envy as he watched the champions walk by. The way the crowd exploded with cheer when they entered the stadium was just something that Ash would kill to experience. The very thought of being so beloved and idolized for his skills in Pokémon training filled him with joy and glee, even causing him to forget about his recent defeat.

Once the champions took their seats on the far end of the battlefield, Mr. Goodshow entered from the other side of the arena, making his way towards the center of the arena. The short man didn't receive any introduction, nor did he receive an immense amount of applause. But the crowd did begin to grow silent once he reached the center of the stadium and stepped onto a podium which was placed there specifically for him. He thumped on the microphone, causing a deep boom to reverberate around the stadium as he did so. Upon seeing that the microphone was working properly, he began to speak.

"Lady's and gentlemen." His words brought a silence amongst the entire stadium. "Gathered here, are some of the best trainers the entire Pokémon League has to offer. All of our competitors placing in the Top Eight of their respective Conferences." He paused for a brief moment as he motioned his arm towards the trainers sitting on the sidelines. "They have all worked so hard to get here, and they all most certainly deserve a spot in this tournament." He stopped to let out a sigh. "However, as I'm sure many of you have noticed, one of the thirty two competitors is not with us today."

Ash let out a huff, folding his arms; Misty didn't seem much happier.

"One of our competitors; who will remain nameless, has been banned from all Pokémon League events due to their unacceptable behavior and actions." He shook his head in what seemed to be disappointment. "It's truly a shame that such a great trainer would do something so juvenile." He let out one more sigh before painting a smile back on his face, returning to a much more cheerful demeanor. "With that said, we have randomly selected one trainer amongst the remaining thirty one competitors who will be exempt from the first round of the tournament!"

All of the trainers leaned forward and fixed their eyes on Mr. Goodshow, trying to mentally pry more information from him. Ash was no exception. However, his motivations were much different from the other trainers. While everyone else was praying to automatically advance to the second round, Ash was praying to _not_ be exempt from having to battle in the first round.

"Cue the drum roll, please." Goodshow made a gesture towards the sound booth near the top of the stadium. With seemingly no delay, a suspense filled drum roll began to bellow from the speakers, causing all of the trainers to clench their fists in the hopes that their name would be called. "The trainer who is exempt from competing in the first round is…" He opened an envelope he had been handed just moments before taking the stage, completely clueless as to who's name was scribbled inside. As soon as his eyes gazed at the name written on it, and cracked a slight grin. "Serenity, of the Hoenn League!" He motioned his arm towards the young brown haired girl, causing her to jump up from her chair and squeal with glee.

"Yes!" She screamed in complete and utter joy, bobbing up and down excitedly.

"Oh good grief." Misty huffed, still holding onto the grudge from their scuffle in Scarlett Town. "She's just gonna lose in her first battle anyways." She growled.

While the gym leader grumbled about Serenity's stroke of good luck, Ash leaned back in his seat and sighed in relief. "Whew," He exhaled. "I was a bit worried there for a second."

"About what?" Misty asked, perplexed by Ash's reaction to learning that he wouldn't get a free pass through the first round.

He turned towards her and smiled. "I was worried they'd make me skip the first round of the tournament!"

The redhead couldn't help but let out a laugh. "You want to win this fair and square, huh?" She asked, smiling.

"You better believe I do!" The very idea of skipping the first round almost seemed offensive to him. "I want to be the very best, and the best don't take shortcuts!"

_No, but the smart ones do._ Misty chuckled. Despite this though, she had to admire Ash's undying sense of honor. The redhead was quickly brought out of her moment of thought though, as Mr. Goodshow began speaking again.

"With that out of the way, let's get onto the rules of the tournament!" Though he sounded enthusiastic, his body language suggested he was eager to just jump straight into the first battle. "This tournament will be divided into five rounds, the first round being the best two out of three battles, the second round will be three on three, the third a four on four, and the fourth and fifth rounds will be full battles." Goodshow paused for a moment to take a breath. "With that said, the matches will be as so." He pointed up towards one of the jumbo-trons as a tournament bracket appeared on the screen.

Each bracket had two pictures on the end of them, showing which trainers would be going against which. Ash and Misty's eyes quickly began to search up and down the brackets, trying to find who his opponent would be. The first one they found was Paul's, who was going against a blue haired kid who looked to be no older that fourteen. The next familiar face was Harrison's, who was going against a quite attractive young lady. Then there was A.J., who would be going against….. Ash?

"Awesome!" The trainer from Pallet nearly jumped out of his seat. "A.J.!" He shouted, looking down the line of trainers, trying to find his green haired opponent.

"Ash?" He stood up, making himself visible.

"Me and you are going against each other!" He shouted in excitement.

A.J. cracked a smile, admiring Ash's enthusiasm. "Well if it's anything like last time we battled, it looks like you might be in trouble!" He smirked.

"Oh yeah?" Ash chuckled, thriving in the good spirited, yet competitive trash talking. "Well I've gotten _a lot_ better since the last time we battled, so you might be the one who's out of luck!" Before Ash could wait to hear A.J.'s response, he felt a tug on his jacket, causing him to turn his attention to the person pulling on it.

"Ash!" Misty exclaimed as she released his jacket from her grasp.

"What is it, Mist?"

"Look!" The redhead pointed towards a bracket on the opposite side of Ash and A.J.'s.

As soon as the trainer saw what his girlfriend was pointing at, his eyes widened in shock. At the top right corner of the tournament bracket, were pictures of two men. One had long black hair; the other long and white. One had deep dark eyes that appeared warm and calming; the other's were cold and icy blue, appearing malevolent and vindictive. One from Sinnoh, one from Johto. Tobias, and Damian.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash leaned along the wooden railing of the oceanfront cabin's porch. He gazed upon the soft waves of the ocean, the starry night sky framing the soothing site. He had come a long way since he and Misty landed in Crestpeak City. Though his misadventures were much farther and fewer between when compared to his previous journeys, he couldn't help but feel that his focus was stronger than it had ever been. Of course, that may have also been because of a noticeable lack of Team Rocket coming up with a new scheme to catch Pikachu every week.

"Your up a bit late." Misty spoke as she stepped onto the porch, Pikachu following closely behind her.

Ash turned around to see that the young gym leader was wearing her pink Goldeen pajamas. "Oh, yeah." He replied, pausing for a moment so he could take note of how cute the redhead looked in her nightwear. "I'm gonna go to bed soon." He turned back towards the ocean. "I just wanted to get a bit of fresh air first."

"You've been getting fresh air for an hour now." She replied as she leaned against the railing, standing next to her boyfriend. "I think you've gotten plenty." She giggled.

"I'm just so excited." Ash spoke, looking up at the stars. "I can't believe that I'm actually here!" He closed his eyes for a moment so he could take in the serene beauty of the sounds of the ocean.

"You mean you actually had your doubts?" Misty threw a playful look at the Master League competitor.

"No." He uttered. "It's just that…" He took a moment to gather his words. "When I left Kanto seven years ago, I was _sure_ I was going to become a Pokémon Master." He let out a sigh. "And now that I'm actually here, competing with the best trainers in the world, its just seems so….. surreal."

Misty's eyes widened just the slightest, unaware that Ash's vocabulary contained the word 'surreal'. "Well this has just been one great big nostalgia trip for me." She said with a smile.

"There you go with that word again." The black haired trainer looked over at Misty, still perplexed by the strange word. "Could you please explain what that means?"

Misty was in too good a mood to be annoyed by her boyfriend's ignorance. "Nostalgia is like…" She had to stop for a moment and think about how to describe it in a way Ash would understand. "You know that feeling you had when we first started traveling together again?"

"Uh, kinda." He replied. "Which one are you talking about?"

"You know, that warm feeling in your stomach that you get when you think about the past? Like how it felt just like the old days when we started our journey in Zerra?"

"Yeah, I know what you're talking about." Ash nodded. "It's that feeling that makes you really happy, but kinda sad at the same time?"

Misty nodded, her aqua green eyes looking directly into Ash's dark brown eyes. "Yeah, that's it." She turned away from the trainer and looked off into the ocean, gazing upon the moonlight reflecting off of the rippling tide. "It really is beautiful out here tonight."

"It is."

The two remained silent, taking in the soft sounds of the ocean crashing against the sands of the beach. Feeling that she could no longer stand the silence, Misty finally spoke up again. "I've been thinking about what it was I wanted to say to you."

Ash looked over at Misty, slightly perplexed. "What do ya mean?"

Misty sighed, feeling that having to explain herself would just ruin the mood. "Never mind." She mumbled before lifting herself off of the railing. "I'm going to bed." She said before leaning up to Ash and placing a soft kiss on his cheek. "You should do the same."

"Uh… Yeah, I'll be in in few minutes."

Without another word, Misty opened the door to the cabin and made her way back inside, shutting it behind her.

"Pika pi." The yellow mouse spoke as he scurried up Ash's back, and climbed onto his shoulder.

"You're telling me, Pikachu." He replied. "I almost hate to say anything else to her, especially since…." The trainer had to take a moment to stomach the words he was about to say. "Especially since she's going back to Cerulean City when we get back." For four years he was without her, for four years he spent almost every waking second thinking about her, and even dreaming about her on some nights. When she first returned, he was overjoyed beyond words. However, that time was coming to a close. If Ash won the Master League, he'd be challenging one of the champions, and Misty would be in Cerulean City. If he lost, he'd be in Unova, and Misty would still be in Cerulean City. There truly was no winning. "I think it's time to go to bed, Pikachu."

The electric mouse nodded in agreement as he hopped down from his master's shoulder before following him back inside.

XXXXXXXXXX

Daybreak began to peak through the window, causing the sun's rays to shine right into Ash's closed eyes. He grumbled as he rolled over, cocooning himself in his blankets in a vain attempt to get a few more minutes of sleep. However the sound of Misty rustling about in the kitchen kept him from falling back asleep; which would also explain the smell of something burning. Also, Pikachu had been sleeping on his leg, causing it to go numb. Groaning once more, the black haired trainer finally decided to get out of bed.

"Morning, Ash." Misty looked over her shoulder as she stirred up something in a pot over the hot eye of the stove.

"Morning." He yawned. "Whatcha cookin'?" He at least wanted to know what she'd be poisoning him with today.

"Ramen." She replied, turning back to the pot.

"Okay." Ash spoke in a rather indifferent tone as he got out of bed and changed out of his pajamas. "Wait." He stopped himself as he put on his blue cargo pants. "Ramen doesn't burn?" The trainer dashed into the kitchen and peered over Misty's shoulder to look into the pot. "Misty!" He shouted, unintentionally right into her ear. "You forgot to add water!"

Misty put down the small ladle she was using to stir the ball of noodles, and looked down at the now black and brown lump of ramen. "That would explain why they didn't smell right."

Ash sighed as he wondered how a girl as smart as Misty could be such a ditz when it came to something as simple as cooking basic foods. "Why don't we eat out?" Ash uttered, walking back to the other side of the cabin so he could get as far away from the repugnant smell of charred noodles as possible.

"That might be a good idea." Misty admitted, quite aware that this was probably the highlight of her terrible cooking.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I don't get it." James muttered as he put on a red and white striped, cardboard hat. "Every time one of these Pokémon Leagues come around, we always end up working concessions… And we're not even undercover anymore!"

"Quit whining." Jessie snarled as she put on a red and white hat similar to James'. "We don't have any money to get back home, and all employees at the Master League get free boarding.." Once her hat was on, she looked across the locker room, and directed her attention to Meowth. "Are you ready?" She asked the talking Pokémon as he straightened up his hat.

"Yeah." He sighed, reaching for one of the concession boxes filled with cotton candy, wrapping the straps around his shoulders. "We've really hit rock bottom, haven't we?" The cat spoke as he looked down at the box full of the pink, fluffy sweets.

"It could be worse." James replied. "Domino could've just killed us and put us all out of our misery." He said, shooting a glare towards Jessie. "Oh wait, that would be a lot better than having to be stuck here with you!" His gripe was met with a fist to the face, knocking him square on his back.

"Come again James, I couldn't hear you?" The fiery tempered woman still sounded slightly agitated, despite letting out her fury by decking the blue haired man square in the nose.

Meowth watched on at the sight of Jessie standing over James as he laid there holding his nose in pain. "I guess some things just neva change." He sighed as he began walking out of the locker room, leaving the two to bicker amongst themselves.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash and Misty took a seat in the corner booth of a quick get-in-get-out diner, while Pikachu curled up around their feet. Due to the fact that many of the attendees of the Master League were already at Zerra Stadium, the restaurant was practically deserted; except for the two trainers and the skeleton crew working the shift, allowing for the two to eat in peace.

"Did May or Drew ever get back to you?" Misty asked as she covered her mouth while chewing her food.

Ash shook his head. "I called em', but they never answered. They may already be at the stadium."

"Oh well." The redhead shrugged as she took another bite of her hamburger. "I guess we'll see them tonight then."

"Guess so."

"Assuming you aren't spending the rest of the day sulking in your room after A.J. beats you." She said, throwing a playful wink Ash's way.

"Hey!" Despite the lightheartedness to the statement, he still took offense to it. "I can beat A.J., no problem!"

"Are you going to be sure not to use Pikachu against a ground type this time?" Misty took another bite of her hamburger, leaving only a fourth of her patty left.

"I'm not a stupid little kid anymore." He replied as he took a huge bite out of his hamburger, if only to catch up with his girlfriend. "Besides, I've already got a trick up my sleeve for beating Sandslash."

"And what might that be?" Misty asked as she rested her elbows on the table, and her chin on her palms, intrigued to hear what the trainer's strategy was.

He held up his right hand and shook his index finger at her. "You know the saying; a true trainer never reveals their secrets."

The gym leader rolled her eyes, showing little amusement. "Ash, it's a true _magician_ never reveals their secrets."

"Oh." He stopped and looked down at his half eaten burger. "Well, the point is you'll just have to wait and find out." He added, picking up the hamburger and taking another huge chunk out of it, tying him with his girlfriend. As he finished chewing his food, he felt a shadow loom over him, blocking out the florescent light bulb that had been shining down on him.

"Excuse me." A deep, grizzled voice called to the trainer.

Ash slowly turned to his right, and looked up. Before him stood a towering man with long, scraggy grey hair that went a little below his shoulders. His eyes seemed to be fixated on the trainer, and his expression seemed to be locked in a strange in-between of a scowl and a smirk. He seemed to be quite modest when it came to clothing though. His shirt was solid grey, his pants were just mere jeans, and the only from of clothing he wore that was slightly out of the ordinary was his brown duster which had an image of flames sewn into the tail of the jacket. And as a complete counterbalance to his grizzled appearance; he had a Chikorita sitting atop of his right shoulder.

"M..may I help you?" The trainer asked sheepishly, feeling a bit intimidated by the stranger's massive size. Sensing his master's worry, Pikachu scurried up into Ash's lap, creating a barrier between the two.

"You're Ash Ketchum, right?" He asked, his expression still locked in a scowlish grin.

"Y..yeah." He gulped. "Who are you?"

The grey haired man extended hand towards Ash. "My name is Silver." He answered. "It's an honor to meet you."

The black haired trainer seemed slightly perplexed by his introduction, but hesitantly shook his hand anyways. "An honor?" He spoke confusedly.

"I've been watchin' you since you first competed in the Indigo League." He replied as he took Ash's hand into a tight grip, unintentionally hurting the trainers hand. "From the second I saw ya, I knew you were gonna be a champion one day."

Ash let out a small laugh, flattered by his words. "Well that's really nice of ya to say."

Sensing that Ash no longer felt threatened, Pikachu hopped across the table and landed in Misty's lap, causing Silver's attention to draw to the redhead. "You must be Ms. Waterflower." He said in an almost courtly tone.

The gym leader began to wrap her arms around Pikachu, feeling a bit uncomfortable with being the grizzled man's center of attention. "Please, call me Misty."

"Of course." He nodded. "Just like your Dad, you're not much for formalities."

The redhead's eyes widened. "Y..y..you knew my Dad?"

He nodded once more. "Me and Roy crossed paths quite a few times when we were kids." He smiled. "Last time I saw him, he just became the Cerulean Gym Leader." The grey haired man's smile began to form into a frown. "And then…. Well…" Silver looked down at his feet, unintentionally letting the conversation go in a direction he didn't want it to go. "Well anyways," he said in a less melancholy tone. "Good luck on your match, Ash. I'll be rootin' for ya."

"Thanks." Ash replied. "Maybe I'll see you around after the match."

"I'd certainly hope so." Silver let another smile escape him before he turned away and started towards the diner's exit.

Misty watched on, waiting for the door to shut behind him after he left before speaking. "Well, that was odd." She said.

"I thought he was pretty nice." Ash responded, leaning back in the booth and resting his hands behind his head.

"Well, yeah." The redhead turned her attention away from the door and back to Ash. "But didn't you think he just seemed a little _too _familiar with us?"

The trainer from Pallet shrugged, not thinking much of her question. "I guess, but he seems alright."

"Whatever you say." She sighed, pulling out her phone to see what time it was. After looking at the time, she raised her eyes up to Ash, who seemed to be staring off into space. "I guess we should get going." She said. "Your match starts in forty-five minutes."

"Okay." Ash replied, seemingly still deep in thought.

The two wrapped up the remainder of their burgers, and pulled themselves out of the booth. After doing a quick double check over to make sure they didn't forget anything, they made their way out of the diner.

XXXXXXXXXX

The stadium was packed, the crowd was cheering, and the heat of battle filled the air. On the battlefield, Paul's Nidoking stood strong against his opponent's Rampardos. The powerful poison and ground type had been trucking through the entirety of the match, making short work of the Toxicroak that was sent out at the start of the match.

However, fatigue was starting to set in on the purple behemoth. Rampardos' thick skull and impressive endurance allowed for it to throw its entire body into it's attacks without taking much of a physical toll on itself, as well as absorb most of Nidoking's attacks.

"Use head smash!" Rampardos' trainer ordered, hoping to finally take the powerful Nidoking down. The fossil Pokémon lowered its head and began rushing towards its opponent, quickly picking up speed along the way.

"Counter it with earth power." Paul remained calm and collected as he gave the ground type his command. Without having to even take a moment to register the order, Nidoking smashed his fist into the ground, sending a fissure towards his charging opponent. As soon as the fracture in the earth reached Rampardos, it caused it to lose its footing and crash headfirst into the ground.

The referee ran up to the sidelines and took a close look at the rock type to see that the Pokémon was out cold. "Rampardos is no longer able to battle!" He announced, raising the red and green flags up above his head. "Paul has won the first two matches, so therefore he is the winner!" the referee lowered the green flag, indicating his victory.

The crowd cheered as the second match of the day came to a close, and gave a huge round of applause for both trainers as they walked towards the center of the battlefield to exchange congratulations with each other.

"Wow," Paul's opponent scratched the back of his head, still trying to soak in the fact that he had come this far just to lose in the first round. "your Nidoking is _really_ strong."

"Yeah." Paul replied in a rather indifferent tone.

His defeated opponent looked down at his feet, silently awaiting for a compliment from Paul; as it was only polite. However, there was no praise, no compliment, nothing. Feeling even more defeated, the blue haired trainer turned away from Paul and began making his way back to his respective entrance.

"Hey!" The purple haired trainer called out, causing his adversary to stop in his tracks and turn around. "That was a good match."

Cracking a smile, the trainer nodded. "Thanks." With that, he turned back around and continued his way off of the battlefield.

Paul turned around and did the same, taking little note of the crowd's cheers and applause for him. Once he passed through the threshold of the exit, which created a bit of a barrier between him and the sound of the crowd, he looked off to the side and saw Ash standing before him.

"That was a pretty good match, Paul." The black haired trainer praised, seeming the slightest bit hesitant to speak to him.

"I've had better." He replied coldly.

Ash wasn't the least bit surprised by the trainer's passive aggressive hostility that seemed to be radiating towards him. "Well, are you going to stick around and watch the rest of today's matches?"

"I might." He threw a look at the trainer from Pallet. "I'll probably watch yours, if only to learn your strategies so I can use them against you in our match."

Ash's eyes widened, quite taken back by Paul's words. They both knew that the only way they'd battle each other would be if they battled in the semifinals. "Y..you think I'll make it to the semifinals?"

"Don't flatter yourself." The purple haired trainer shot. "I just want a rematch with you. So don't screw this up."

Upon hearing Paul's cold explanation, Ash felt a little less taken back by his initial comment. "I won't." He replied with a smirk. "You'll get your rematch."

"Good."

Nodding, Ash turned towards the battlefield's entrance, and made his way towards the sound of the crowd's cheering.

"Now, for our third match of the day!" Mary's voice echoed through the speakers as Ash stepped onto the dirt of the battlefield. "On the green side, is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"

"And on the red side, is A.J. of Vermillion City!" Bill added.

Ash looked across the battlefield as the crowd erupted with applause and cheering. A.J. was standing alongside with his loyal Sandslash. The green haired trainer then curiously eyed Ash when he saw that the black haired trainer wasn't accompanied by his starter.

"Where's your Pikachu, Ash?"

"Oh," Ash looked over at his shoulder where Pikachu normally sat. "He's with Misty." He answered. "He's sitting out this battle."

A.J. was quite surprised to hear this, as he was almost certain that he'd have brought the rodent with him. "Alright." He replied. "Show me see whatcha got then!"

"I'd love to."

"Alright, alright" The referee intervened so he could state the rules. "This is going to be a best two out of three match, the first to win two matches will be the winner. Is that understood?"

"Yup."

"You bet."

"Alright then." He took a few steps back, and took a stand behind the sidelines. "Then let the battle begin!"

* * *

Next Chapter, Ash vs. A.J.!

Hopefully it'll be up soon. Maybe tomorrow, probably the day after that, but if the stars line up just right... Perhaps tonight?

Till then, see ya!


	30. Round 1: Let's Get Ready To Rumble!

Okay, first thing's first; I swear I've revised this one twice... I think... Maybe... I'm not sure.

Point is, when revising this again, I couldn't remember if I had done it twice or not, so if I haven't it may have more typo's grammatically incorrect sentences, etc.. If that's the case, I'm sorry, and I'll fix it if it is too problematic.

Anyways, the First battle of the Master League!

* * *

The crowd was roaring, Ash's heart was racing, and a rush of adrenaline coursed through his veins. He reached for his first Poké Ball, and took the sphere in hand. It had been a while since he used this one in battle, but the trainer had not a shed of doubt in his mind that this Pokémon was the right choice.

"Heracross, I choose you!" The Poké Ball busted open, freeing the blue beetle onto the battlefield. He let out a cackling hiss as he shouted his name, punching his left fist into his right palm as he prepared for battle.

A.J. took a moment to pick his Pokémon, knowing that he didn't have anything on him that would inherently have an advantage over the bug and fighting type. He would have used Sandslash, but it was far too early to throw his trump card onto the field. After taking a second to think, he reached for a Poké Ball and tossed it onto the field.

"Raticate, go!" The mouse took the field and glared at his opponent, it's expression locked in a permanent scowl.

"A Raticate against a Heracross?" Ash chuckled. "You must be losing your touch A.J."

"Don't get too cocky just yet." He retorted. "If you wanna beat him, you're gonna have to catch him first." The green haired trainer let out a crooked smile. "Quick attack, now!" Like a zap of lightning, Raticate dashed across the field, his form becoming nothing more than a blur as he closed in on Heracross.

Realizing there was no way to counter the rat's intense speed, Heracross crossed his arms over his torso, and used them to soak in the blow as Raticate smashed into his shelled body. Though he was able to absorb the blow, Heracross was still knocked back a bit by the attack.

"What a great demonstration of speed on Raticate's part." Bill's commentating filled the speakers of the arena.

Ash bit down on his lip as he tried to quickly come up with an order. "Heracross, come back with a horn attack!" The beetle reared his head back before smashing the giant horn atop his head downward, aiming for the big toothed rodent. However, once again Raticate's speed proved to be a bit too much, as he easily dashed to the side, causing Heracross' horn to smash into the dirt.

"Now that he's open, use hyper fang!" A.J.'s orders rang not just through is Pokémon's ears, but Ash's as well. The normal type flashed his front to fangs before leaping towards the bug type's exposed side.

"Reversal!" Ash yelled out of sheer instinct. The fighting type quickly pulled his horn out of the dirt, and in one swift motion, he used his right elbow to smash Raticate across the face, and then followed up by using his left hand to grab the midair rodent and slam him into the ground with all the force he could possibly muster.

The audience let out a unanimous "Oooo!" flinching at the sight of the vicious counter attack. Misty, May, and Drew were also among those people. Even up in the box seats; the Champions and Mr. Goodshow all exchanged words regarding the fluidity of Heracross' finesse.

"Now that he's down, use…"

"Sucker punch!" Before Heracross could even react in the slightest, Raticate quickly pulled itself onto its feet and delivered a hard blow to the bug's stomach. However the attack did little more than stagger the fighting type, as his hard shell proved useful for shielding himself from such attacks. "Now follow it up with giga impact!"

"Uh oh." Ash gulped.

Taking advantage of his opponent's daze, the rat rushed towards Heracross as a purple and aura surrounded him while orange streaks spiraled around him. Heracross tried to move out of the way, however in his stupor he couldn't muster up the ability to dodge it.

Raticate hit hard in the center of the beetle's chest, not slowing down in the slightest after the hit made contact. Heracross grunted and groaned as the powerful force drove deep into his chest, feeling like he had just been hit by a freight train.

Once the rat finally came to a halt, Heracross was laying on the ground, barely moving. "Heracross!" Ash cried in worry, unsure if the Pokémon would be able to get up after taking such a hard blow.

"What a powerful hit!" Mary's voice filled the stadium.

"Indeed. I don't think Heracross is going to get up from that one." Bill added.

However much to the surprise of everyone in the stadium, the bug type somehow managed to lift himself back onto his feet, the fatigue of battle clearly showing. "Heracross, you're up!" Ash exclaimed in glee, as he was almost certain there was no way the Pokémon would get up after taking such a hard hit.

"Huh…" A.J. folded his arms, a bit taken back by the bug type's resilience. "Alright. If he still doesn't want to go down, then you'll just have to use giga impact again!" Without the least bit of hesitation, the rat began sprinting once again with a purple aura and orange streaks surrounding him.

Realizing that Heracross couldn't take another hit, Ash gave the only order he thought might actually stand against Raticate's giga impact. "Use counter!"

"Hera!" His Pokémon cried out as an orange outline surrounded his body. Upon seeing this, Raticate tried to screech to a halt, but his momentum wouldn't allow for that. Raticate hit Heracross head on with the giga impact, however the powerful aura surrounding Heracross deflected the attack, sending Raticate flying all the way across the battlefield, crashing into the out of bounds zone, completely unconscious.

"Raticate is no longer able to battle!" The referee announced, raising the green and red flags up in the air. "So Heracross is the winner!" He directed the green flag towards Ash's side of the field.

Upon hearing this, Misty, May, and Drew all shot up from their chairs and began to cheer. "Go Ash!" The redhead screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Wow, this really takes me back!" May added, thinking back to the old days when she watched Ash compete in the Ever Grande Conference.

"Not exactly a graceful battler, is he?" Drew uttered. After his words rang through the ears of the two girls, he was met by a glare from each of them, clearly not finding his remark funny. "I'm just joking, relax." He laughed.

Ash did a quick look over of Heracross, not even taking a second to realize that the bug and fighting type was on his last limb. Had it just been a standard battle, he'd have allowed the Pokémon to stay in if he so wished. However this was a two out of three battle, and a single loss would just be too risky.

"You were great out there, Heracross." The black haired trainer raised up his Poké Ball. "Return."

As the bug type vanished from the battlefield, A.J. looked down at his loyal Sandslash. "You ready to go in there and win?" He grinned.

"Slash!"

"Well go show em' whatcha got!" A.J. nodded towards the battlefield, signaling the Pokémon to get ready. Sandslash sprung from his trainer's side, and leapt onto the center of the arena, displaying his excellent finesse as he leapt over thirty feet flatfooted.

"Okay." Ash took a deep breath, knowing all to well that A.J.'s Sandslash was certainly a force to be reckoned with. He raised up his next Poké Ball and stared at it with deep admiration. It had been a long, long time since this Pokémon was last used in battle. However there wasn't a shed of doubt in Ash's mind that his first grass type could win the battle without issue. "Bulbasaur, I choose you!"

The Poké Ball busted open, unleashing the green bulb Pokémon onto the field. "Bulba saur!" He cried out, overjoyed to finally have the chance to compete in a battle again.

Misty's eyes lit up upon seeing the grass and poison type. It had been almost five years since she last saw the little seed Pokémon. Despite her excitement, she did begin to feel a faint sense of worry that Bulbasaur may have possibly lost his touch after not battling for such a long time.

"Is something wrong?" May looked over at the redhead, easily telling that she was fretting over something.

"Oh." Misty pulled herself out of her momentary daze. "It's nothing. I just hope that Bulbasaur isn't too rusty, that's all." She let out a insincere laugh, trying to pass off her worry as nothing more than trivial.

May made a reassuring smile. "I'm sure Bulbasaur will do great out there." She replied before turning back to watch the upcoming battle.

"Yeah, I'm sure he will." Misty returned her attention back to the field and let out a sigh. _Please don't lose Ash. I'd hate to see you make it this far just to lose in the first round._

"Are both trainers ready?" the referee looked over at both Ash and A.J., awaiting their responses.

"Yeah." Both of them answered simultaneously.

"Then let the battle begin!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms down to signal the start of the match.

"Bulbasaur, let's try to make this quick by using sleep powder!"

"Bulba!" He growled, opening the green bulb on his back to unleash the powder. With a strong puff, the microscopic particles floated towards Sandslash, surrounding him like a gaseous cloud.

"Sandslash, protect yourself with safeguard!" Fighting through the sleep inducing powder, the ground type engulfed himself in a greenish-blue light, protecting him from Bulbasaur's attack. Once protected by the safeguard, Sandslash quickly began to regain his composure, showing no signs of falling asleep.

"Shoot!" Ash growled, clenching his fist. "Use bullet seed!" Bulbasaur opened his mouth and spat out a series of pebble sized seeds that were directed towards Sandslash. They shot across the air so quickly that they were nearly impossible to see with the naked eye.

Sandslash had no trouble seeing them though, as he used his long claws to deflect the incoming attack with nearly lightning fast speed. For each swipe in the air he made, four to five little seeds would fall to the ground at his feet. All the while, A.J. stood behind and looked on pensively with a grin spread across his face.

"Wow, he's really fast." Ash mumbled so quietly only he was able to hear it.

Once Bulbasaur's series of bullet seeds finally ended, A.J. gave the next order. "Use rollout, now!" The hedgehog-like Pokémon curled into a ball, exposing his brown spikes that riddled his back. He began to roar across the dirt as he spun like a wheel of destruction towards Bulbasaur.

"Get out of the way!" Ash cried, a bit surprised by Sandslash's speed. The grass type leapt to the side, dodging the attack. However Sandslash wasn't done yet. He spun around with nearly a zero turn radius, and started rolling towards Bulbasaur yet again. This time though, he couldn't jump out of the way.

"Bulba!" He yelped as Sandslash's spiky back ripped into him. The ground type rolled right over the grass and poison type almost as though he wasn't even there, leaving the little green Pokémon lying flat in the dirt.

"Bulbasaur, are you okay?!" Ash leaned forward and bit down on his lip, uncertain if the grass type was still able to battle. Without much delay, he started to pull himself back up, giving a serious nod to answer his trainer's trainer from Pallet took a moment to think about what to do now. Bulbasaur may have been up, but that wouldn't do any good if Sandslash just steamrolled over him again. He had to come up with a way to stop the ground type from rolling around and picking up speed. _I've got it!_ He thought. "Use sludge bomb!"

"Bulba." The Pokémon lowered his head and opened up the green bulb on his back again. This time though, he unleashed a big, dark, gooey glob of sludge. The gunk smacked right into Sandslash the second he tried to make a U turn so he could run over Bulbasaur again.

The sticky sludge managed to stick to the ground and caused the ground type to come to a sudden halt. However the forward momentum was still there, and caused for Sandslash's body to unravel. He laid there flat on his back, his belly exposed, and his body stuck to the ground due to the sludge.

"Oh no!" A.J. started to look a little bit worried, realizing that his Pokémon was stuck and had no way of getting out.

"Great job, Bulbasaur!" Ash praised. "Now use razor leaf!" The grass type leapt into the air, and fired three leaves from his bulb, aiming directly towards Sandslash's exposed stomach. Each leaf hit dead on, causing for the ground type to cry out in pain for each hit.

A.J. watched on as his Pokémon laid there and took the hits from Bulbasaur, all the while trying to think of a way to get his strongest Pokémon out of its current predicament. "Sandslash, use all your strength to get out!" It wasn't much of an order, but it was all he had. The hedgehog-like Pokémon mustered up another surge of strength and managed to roll over onto its side with enough force to pull itself free from the sticky sludge. "Whew." His trainer sighed in relief.

"He's still dazed," Ash exclaimed. "knock him down with tackle!" Bulbasaur charged towards his opponent, lowering his head as he got ready to smash his hard skull into his swaying opponent.

"Crush claw!"

"Uh oh."

Sandslash quickly found his bearings and smashed down on the grass type with a powerful right claw, slamming the Pokémon into the dirt.

"Bulba!" He cried as his entire body was pushed down into the ground by the powerful slam. He tried to use his vines to free himself, but Sandslash's massive claw prevented him from escaping due to the strong grasp his opponent had on him.

"Now let's finish this!" A.J. cracked a crooked smile. "Throw Bulbasaur in the air and use focus blast!" Nodding, he lifted Bulbasaur up with little effort, then flung him up into the air with as much strength as he could spare.

Ash gasped the second he saw how high Bulbasaur had been flung. It looked like he had been tossed almost forty feet into the air, and what awaited him on the ground wasn't pleasant. Sandslash was pulling his right claw back and channeling a powerful blue orb of energy. It didn't look like there was a way to get out of this dilemma.

All hope seemed lost for this round, until a shimmer of light shone down on him; both figuratively and literally. Ash looked up to the cloudless sky that was exposed due to the stadium not having a roof, and saw the bright sun shinning down onto the battlefield. _That's it! _"Bulbasaur!" He shouted as he made one last ditch effort to turn the battle around. "Use solarbeam!"

The grass type pulled himself together and quickly soaked in the energy from the sun with relative ease due to how clear the sky was. A.J. saw what was going on, and quickly gave the order for Sandslash to unleash his attack, even though it wasn't completely charged. However, Bulbasaur's attack already was.

"SAAAAURRRR!" The bulb on his back discharged a massive beam of solar energy, engulfing the focus blast and Sandslash as well. The audience let out a unanimous gasp as the powerful blast smashed into the ground with so much force that it left a small crater on the battlefield.

A.J. watched on with awe, his mouth left agape as he waited for the smoke to clear. It was quite clear that the battle was over, but after coming so far, the very least he could do was hang onto the last little bit of hope he had left that Sandslash withstood the attack.

Unsurprising to anyone; the smoke cleared to reveal that Sandslash was laying flat on his back, completely unconscious.

"Sandslash is unable to battle." The referee said as he raised both flags once again. "And Ash has won the first two rounds, so therefore; Ash is the winner!" .

The crowd cheered and applauded as Ash ran up to Bulbasaur and picked up the Pokémon so he could praise him on his victory. "You did great, Bulbasaur!" He laughed as the bulb Pokémon began to happily lick his master's cheek with his wide tongue.

A.J. made his way onto the field as well, looking down at his exhausted Sandslash. He felt no shame though, as his Pokémon had fought with all of his might, and even put Bulbasaur on the ropes. "You did great, Sandslash." He held out his hand and aided the Pokémon as he pulled him back onto his feet. "And if anything, the journey gettin' here was more than worth it."

"A.J!" Ash called to the green haired trainer. "That was awesome!" The trainer from Pallet ran up to his defeated opponent with his hand extended.

A.J. cracked a smile before accepting Ash's handshake. "All I ask of ya is that you win it all." He replied. "So I can at least say that I lost to the Champion."

Ash nodded, the fire of determination burning brightly in his eyes. "You better believe I will."

"Good," He laughed. "Just remember, I want to be first in line for a rematch!"

_Wow, being the Champion._ The thought was far more than just titillating, it was downright riveting. In the past, Ash had always competed with the mindset that he'd become Champion. However, in all of his past league experiences, the prospect of becoming a Pokémon League Champion had never seemed so real to him. Now, not only did it seem like it could be an achievable goal; it felt like it was _certainly _going to happen.

"Alright everybody." Bill said over the speakers. "We'll take a thirty minute break, and when we return, we'll begin the fourth match of the day!"

"And please stick around for our main event of the night! Tobias and Damian!" Mary added.

Ash gulped as he heard those two names, in turn causing the idea of becoming Champion to become a thought so alien that he couldn't even begin to comprehend it.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash slumped down on the bench of the locker room, wiping the sweat from his forehead that he had gathered not from the heat, but from the intensity of his battle with A.J.. All in all, it was a pretty good start to the tournament for him. He'd not only won without losing a single round, but he'd also done it with Pokémon he hadn't used in battle in a long time.

As he looked up at the fluorescent lights that hung above him, he began to drift off into deep thought; wondering what the next round had in store for him. However this thought was cut short as a feminine voice rang in his ears.

"Ash!" She cried out to him.

The trainer from Pallet stood up and turned towards the voice to see his traveling partner from Hoenn running towards him with her arms open; Misty, Drew, and Pikachu following closely behind.

"You were great out there!" May ran up to the black haired trainer and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him as tightly as she could. "I knew you'd win!"

Ash let out a light chuckle. "Easy, May. It's only the first round." He paused so he could release himself from her vice grip of a hug. "I still have to win four more rounds before I win the Master League."

"And then you still have to beat the Champion." Misty smiled, throwing a friendly wink his way.

Ash's smile widened slightly, before turning his attention to Drew. "So what did you think of the match?"

The green haired Coordinator seemed a bit surprised that Ash would ask for his opinion. "Oh, it was pretty good. Standard battles aren't exactly my thing, but I thought you did great out there."

"Awesome." Ash replied, happy to hear the compliment.

"So are you going to go watch the rest of the battles, or are you going to go train for the rest of the day?" Misty inquired as she walked up to the trainer.

"Well, I don't see the harm in watching the rest of the competition." He laughed. "How about we go grab a bite to eat and head up to the stands?"

Misty raised an eyebrow. "We ate before we got here?"

"Well yeah, but battling takes a lot out of you." He said sheepishly.

The gym leader rolled her eyes. "Fine." She replied halfheartedly. "Let's go stop by a hotdog stand or something."

"Woo hoo!" Ash cheered, already making a dash for the exit, leaving everyone else behind.

Misty, Drew, May, and Pikachu all stood back and watched as he ran down the hall, leaving them behind. "He hasn't changed much, has he?" May asked, looking over at Misty.

"Not in the slightest."

XXXXXXXXXX

The stadium field lights flipped on as the sun began to set over the mountains to the west. The competition was looking pretty good from what Ash could tell, and he had no shed of doubt that tomorrow was going to be even better.

Though Ash had won his battle fairly handedly, that was partly because of his lucky choice in picking Pokémon that conveniently had type advantage over A.J.'s. Though Bulbasaur was picked solely to combat Sandslash, Heracross having type advantage over Raticate was just sheer luck. With that in mind, the black haired trainer was quite certain that his next couple of matches wouldn't be anywhere near as easy.

"Well here we are." Bill spoke. "The final match of the day."

As his words rang over the speakers, everyone in the audience leaned forward in their seats. Battle experts had predicted that the winner of the Master League would probably be a toss up between Tobias and Damian, so as far as many of those in attendance were concerned; this was the match that would determine the winner of the tournament.

"Who are you going for, Ash?" Misty turned to the trainer as she scratched Pikachu's ears, who sat happily in her lap.

"Tobias." He answered without hesitation. Though he was still a bit upset about losing to Damian, a rematch with his former opponent from the Lily of the Valley Conference would practically be a dream come true. Ash had gotten a lot better as a trainer over the past few months, but he still couldn't help but ask himself if he was good enough to beat Tobias this time around. Only a rematch would answer that question.

Once everyone's attention was turned to the battlefield, the figures took to their respective sides. The Sinnoh native seemed to show no signs of anxiety or pre-battle jitters that many trainers faced. His expression was calm and his body language suggested he was looking forward to the battle.

Damian on the other hand seemed less eager to battle, and more interested in moving onto the next round. His eyes were glaring into his opponent's, almost as though he was trying to look into his mind and read Tobias' strategy.

"Are both trainers ready?" The referee asked, looking at them as he awaited their response.

"Ready." Said Tobias.

"Ready." Said Damian.

"Then let the battle begin!"

As they both reached for their Poké Balls, Ash leaned even further forward, resting his elbows on his knees while his head rested in his palms. He watched intently as Tobias released Darkrai onto the field; just as he expected.

"Darkrai almost wiped out your team the last time we battled." Tobias smirked. "Let's see if this time will be any different."

Damian snickered, throwing another death glare at his opponent. "Shut up and battle." He retorted as he tossed his Poké Ball onto the field, unleashing a notably larger than normal Typhlosion onto the field. The volcano Pokémon let out a ferocious roar as he took a stance, his feral eyes staring down Darkrai.

"Darkrai," Tobias said in a calm voice. "you know what to do.

"Rai." His green eyes began to glow red as he targeted Typlhosion with a hypnosis attack. The psychic waves began to enter into the fire type's mind, causing his brain to begin to slow down to the point where he was nearly asleep.

"Nice try." Damian laughed. "Wake up!" He snarled, causing his Pokémon's eyes to open back up the second his words rang into his ears.

Tobias cocked his head slightly, surprised to see that simply calling out to his Pokémon brought it back from its sleep, yet also intrigued to understand how Damian was capable of such a feat.

XXXXXXXXXX

Lance let out a laugh as he leaned back in his leather chair and took a sip of his drink.

"Is something funny?" Cynthia looked over at the redheaded Champion; Steven and Mr. Goodshow did the same.

"He did the exact same thing when he was competing against the Elite Four."

"He snapped out of hypnosis by simply calling to his Pokémon?" Steven Stone looked on at the battle ensuing below them, intrigued to hear more.

"His Pokémon are so well trained that simply confusing them or trying to put them to sleep is futile. Not even Agatha's Gengar could put his Pokémon to sleep." He paused. "Not for long, anyways."

Stone snickered. "Well this will be interesting to watch."

"My money is still on Tobias." Cynthia said as she leaned back in her chair. "I've seen what his Darkrai can do, and I don't have a shed of doubt that he'll win this."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Dodge his flamethrower!" Darkrai's floating form shifted out of the way of the incoming stream of fire, narrowly avoiding the scorching flames. "Now counter it with shadow ball!" Darkrai channeled a crackling ball of dark energy in his right hand, and flung it towards his charging opponent, who was sprinting on all fours.

"Use flamethrower again!" With a bellowing roar, the fire type opened his mouth and unleashed another powerful stream of fire, meeting the shadow ball halfway. Though his attack traveled no further from there, it did hold back the ghost attack until it started to dissipate into nothingness.

Tobias growled under his breath, kicking himself for underestimating his opponent. "Use double team!" He shouted, realizing how close Typhlosion was getting. The spectral-like Pokémon began to phase into four different copies of himself, confusing his opponent as to which one was the real Darkrai.

Damian let out a huff, seeing his opponent was now taking the defensive route. "Rapid fire your ember attack!" As Typhlosion kept up with his charge, he fired four separate fireballs towards the four different figures that floated before him. The first one phased through, so did the second, and the third. However on the fourth, the fireball hit square in Darkrai's chest, causing him to let out a deep cry of pain.

Darkrai quickly shook off the attack though, not allowing for such a simple and low powered attack to take him down. "Typhlosion is getting close!" Tobias exclaimed. "Use thunderbolt!" Just as the fire type leapt into the air so he could take a bite out of Darkrai, the dark type flung his left arm forward, unleashing a powerful bolt of electricity into the Pokémon's mouth, sending him flying back.

Ash visibly let out a sigh of relief. "That was close."

"But Ash," Misty said. "look at Typhlosion, it looks like that thunderbolt didn't do anything to him."

The black haired trainer looked down onto the field to see that the volcano Pokémon had already lifted himself back onto his hind legs, and let out a vicious roar as the flame collar around his neck began to burn so brightly that Ash could feel the heat radiating onto him.

Damian cracked a crook smile as he watched on in satisfaction as his Typhlosion's rage began to fuel to a near disastrous levels. "Erupt!" The fair haired trainer let out a maniacal laugh as he gave the order to the powerful Johto starter. The flames of Typhlosion's collar began to burn so hot that the flames on his back had grown larger than the Pokémon itself.

Tobias saw what was going on, and acted accordingly. "Darkrai, stop him with rain dance!" With a single wave of Darkrai's hand, a huge thundercloud emerged above the stadium, drenching the battlefield with a downpour of water.

Though the rain did cause for the fire emitting from Typhlosion to die down, it still burnt with great power. The fire type lowered himself so that his back was directed towards Darkrai, and then just as Damian had ordered; he erupted.

A massive outburst of fire burning at near molten levels blasted towards Darkrai in a blazing geyser, completely engulfing the dark type in the searing hot flames. Tobias let out a cry of worry as he watched the fires devour his most powerful Pokémon, fearing that the round was lost.

"Oh my goodness!" Mary gasped over the speakers. "That is one of the biggest eruption attacks I've ever seen in my life!"

"I have to agree with you there, Mary." Bill uttered. "Just imagine what it would have done if Darkrai hadn't used rain dance."

The flames slowly began to die down as the pouring rain drenched the battlefield, causing the smoke that covered the battlefield to be replaced with hot steam. Everyone in attendance began to squint their eyes, trying to get a good view of Darkrai, who was concealed by the steam. Was he still able to battle? Was he hurt? Was he dead? After an attack like that, it wouldn't have surprised anyone in the least.

However as the steam cleared, a badly weakened, but conscious Darkrai emerged from within. His black body was scorched, and his form floated wearily; almost as though it took all of his strength just to muster enough power to continue levitating.

"D..D..Darkrai?" Tobias uttered, shocked to see that his Pokémon was still able to continue. "Are you sure that you want to keep battling?"

"Rai." He muttered as he weakly gave his master a nod.

Ash couldn't believe what he was seeing. In the Lily of the Valley Conference, it took three of his best Pokémon to defeat Darkrai. Damian though, he had Darkrai on his last limb, and all he hadn't even broken a sweat yet.

"Typhlosion, finish Darkrai off with flame wheel." The volcano Pokémon balled up and rolled towards his opponent, his entire body blanketed in flames. Despite the rain that poured down on him, the fire still burned hot, just not as hot as normal.

"Wait for it." Tobias said calmly to his tired friend. Typhlosion was now screaming towards Darkrai like a roaring wheel from Hell. In his wake he left a series of flames that were quickly washed away by the rain, but they still left an intimidating impression nonetheless. "Not yet…" Tobias held his hand up, watching Typhlosion grow even closer to his Pokémon. "Now! Use shadow claw!"

Just as the fire type was about to smash his scorching body into Darkrai's floating form, the dark type flung an illuminating purple fist forward, smashing through the flames, and making contact precisely under Typhlosion's chin, sending the Pokémon flying back, landing square in a puddle of mud, causing the flames on his collar to vanish.

The audience began to cheer the second they saw Typhlosion's fire burn out, but Tobias and Damian knew all to well that this round wasn't over yet. Typhlosion tried pulling himself back onto his feet, but not before being met with a shadow ball from Darkrai, sending him flying off of his feet again, this time landing face first in a puddle of water.

"Get up!" Damian roared, infuriated with his Pokémon for being humiliated by being knocked off of his feet twice in a row. Typhlosion shook his head, shaking off the daze before he lifted himself back onto his hind legs. Just like before though, Darkrai planned on meeting the fire type with a shadow ball. However, Typhlosion saw through the attack this time and used his excellent agility to dodge the ghost attack, and began sprinting towards his opponent once more.

"Dark pulse!"

"Brick break!"

Tobias' eyes widened when he heard the command given. Darkrai tried to unleash his attack before his opponent had gotten too close to him, but Typhlosion's speed was far too great. The fire type ran right up under the Pokémon before rising up and smashing a hard right fist into the dark type's chest.

A wave of silence overtook the field, aside from one boom of thunder and a crackle of lightning. The audience watched on as Typhlosion's fist remained pressed against Darkrai, who was still floating in the air. After a minute-long second though, Tobias' strongest Pokémon fell to the ground.

The referee looked on in shock, unable to comprehend what had just happened. For the first time ever, Tobias' Darkrai had been defeated with a single Pokémon. "D..Darkrai is no longer able to battle." He tripped over his words. "Typhlosion is the winner!" He waved the red flag towards Damian.

Half of the audience applauded and cheered, while the other half either remained silent or booed. Ash was among those remaining silent.

Misty and Pikachu looked on with awe, completely taken back by how powerful Damian's Pokémon was. "I don't even think Gyarados could stand a chance against his Typhlosion." She didn't mean to say it aloud.

Tobias silently returned Darkrai. Never had Darkrai been defeated single handedly before. Not only that, but he was his strongest Pokémon, and if Damian was able to take _him _down with one Pokémon, what were his other Pokémon capable of doing?

"Latios, my friend." Tobias said as he took the Poké Ball in hand. "Let's show him what we can do." As he tossed the Poké Ball onto the field, Damian was already withdrawing Typhlosion.

"I figured you'd use Latios, just like last time." He snarled. "So how about I use this." He let out a laugh as he threw another Poké Ball onto the field, freeing, Absol onto the battlefield.

For the first time ever, Tobias truly felt as though he had already been defeated before the round had even begun.

XXXXXXXXXX

The second round was getting pretty hard to watch. Absol's resistance to psychic attacks rendered Latios' Luster Purge, as well as many of his other powerful moves completely useless. For the most part, Latios would try to swoop down every now and then so he could get a swipe in here and there, but more often than not, he would be met by either a bite attack or a night slash from Absol.

It came as a surprise to no one when Latios finally went down after taking a direct hit from Absol's shadow ball, bringing the psychic dragon crashing down from the sky, and into the muddy dirt.

"Latios is no longer able to battle." The referee said in a tone that indicated even he was happy to see such a one sided match finally end. "Damian has won the first two battles, so therefore, he is the winner." He lowered the red flag towards the long haired man, indicating the battle was finally over.

The two trainers made their way towards the center of the field to congratulate one another, though Tobias had a feeling that he would hear no such compliment. "That was a good battle, Damian." The Sinnoh native uttered. "You've grown a lot stringer since our last battl-"

"Save your praise for someone who cares to hear it." Damian hissed.

"Well then," Tobias fought to hide his scowl, but was doing a rather poor job of it. "I wish you a humiliating defeat then." Without another word he turned away from the long haired trainer and made his way back to the arena entrance.

"Where are you going to go now?" Damian asked. "Unova? I hear that's where all of he pathetic trainers who couldn't cut it in the Pokémon League go."

Tobias didn't even acknowledge him.

"Just remember, when I become Champion, you'll still be a nobody traveling from gym to gym, trying to work your way back up the ladder!"

The trainer stopped in his tracks, and turned to Damian, throwing him a blank stare. "If the rank of Champion is to be tarnished by the likes of you, then perhaps it's a title I don't wish to carry." With that, he turned around and left the battlefield, leaving Damian standing in the center of the battlefield by himself.

"What a jerk." Ash growled. Though he was unable to hear the conversation that ensued between them, it didn't take too much of an imagination to figure out what had just happened.

Once Damian left the field, the lights illuminating the arena began to dim down as Bill and Mary announced that the day's battles had come to an end, and would be continued tomorrow. Ash had another big battle coming up, and he would need all the rest he could get. However, he knew that no matter who he beat in the Master League, none of them would compare to what Damian could bring to the table.

* * *

Alright, yeah, I'm sorry it started out a bit slow, but we have A LOT of battles to cover, so we've got to keep them from getting to excessive for the time being.

The next chapter might be up in a few days. It's finished, but it needs revision, so Saturday-Sunday maybe? I'm not sure, so just give or take a day or two.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed, and I'll see ya soon!


	31. Round 2: A Heart of Darkness

Hey everybody. Got another chapter here for ya... And I'm going to be a bit blunt. This one gets a bit dark when compared to previous chapters. Nothing overly grim or anything, but still noteworthy when compared to the previous chapters.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Noctowl, use wing attack!" The shiny Pokémon soared across the air, slamming directly into his opponent's Purugly. The second round battle had been raging on for about fifteen minutes, though all in all it was going strongly in Ash's favor. Torcoal made short work of his opponent's Lopunny and Zangoose, now Noctowl was about to pull off a victory over his opponent's final Pokémon.

Purugly flew off of its feet as the owl collided with it, landing square on its back. The large cat tried to make a single attempt to roll back onto its stubby legs, but the fatigue of battle had reared its ugly head, causing the Pokémon to faint.

"Purugly is no longer able to battle!" The referee held both flags up in the air. "Noctowl is the winner!" He waved the red flag towards Ash, indicating his victory. At this point, the trainer from Pallet had stopped listening to the referee, as he already was well aware that his opponent was out of usable Pokémon, and instead started making his way towards the center of the battlefield to congratulate his opponent for a good battle.

Off in the stands, Misty and May hooted and hollered while Drew silently clapped his hands. "Great job, Ash!" The gym leader shouted over the crowd, even catching the black haired trainer's attention; though he was only able to look in her general direction, unable to tell where the redhead was sitting amongst the massive sea of people.

"So do ya wanna stick around for some more matches?" May asked, looking towards Misty.

She shook her head. "You two can, but me and Ash are going to go site-seeing."

Drew raised an eyebrow, taking a bit of interest in the idea. Though the battles were entertaining for what they were worth, he just didn't find them as interesting as contest battles. "That sounds fun." He spoke, only to be met by a very unsubtly elbow from May.

"Drew," The coordinator said in a tone that was just as subtle. "I think we should stay here and watch the battles."

"Nah," He replied. "I'm a bit tired of watching batt..."

He was met by another elbow. "Drew…" She growled. "I don't think they want us to tag along." She couldn't think of a way to make her point even clearer without being blunt.

"Wh-" He paused for a second as the light bulb went off. "Ohhhh." He sighed. "I guess we'll stick around here then." Despite his concession, he still seemed reluctant to sit around and watch another round of a vicious Pokémon battle.

XXXXXXXXXX

"C'mon Misty." Ash pleaded as the redhead forcibly gripped his hand and pulled him down the streets of Corsola Beach's boardwalk. "Do we _have_ to go out? I'm missing the chance to see some major battles!"

Misty rolled her eyes. "I promise, you won't miss anything important." She replied. "Besides, don't you like the idea of spending some time with your beautiful girlfriend?" She added, shooting him a look.

The trainer from Pallet opened his mouth as though he was about to come up with some sort of retort. But before he could say anything stupid, Pikachu hopped on top of his head causing the brim of Ash's hat to fall over his eyes.

"Ah! Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed, picking the yellow mouse up off of his head. Misty began to laugh and giggle at the sight of Ash's very slight misfortune. Once the trainer lifted the brim of his hat up, he could see that Misty had either forgotten about her question, or was no longer interested in hearing what he had to say. Either way, it got Ash out of an awkward situation. "Thanks Pikachu." He mumbled to the electric rodent sitting atop of his shoulder.

"Pika pika pi." He replied happily.

"Hey, this place looks cool!" Misty exclaimed, pointing towards what looked like a Pokémon tourist trap. The sign hanging over the door read 'Starmie Harbor', and even featured a statue of the purple starfish Pokémon in front of the door.

"What is it?" Ash looked on confusedly.

"It looks like an arcade!" She squealed, gripping Ash's hand even tighter as she pulled him along with her. "Let's check it out!"

The redhead pushed the door open, and dashed inside. The inside of the building featured a brilliant splash of dark blue, light blue, and yellow, emulating the view of the beach on a bright and sunny day. This was all complimented by the many neon lights that illuminated the building's interior. However, it didn't take long for Ash and Misty to realize that this was indeed not an arcade. Lining the floors were a series of slot machines, as well as a large number of poker and Black Jack tables.

"Oh." Misty sighed in disappointment. "It's a casino."

"Looks like it." Ash did a quick look-over of the game floor, spotting a large crowd gathered around a single table off towards the far side of the building. "Hey, looks like something's going on over there." He said, pointing towards the crowded poker table.

The redhead shrugged. "Might as well check it out, I guess."

The two teens and the Pikachu made their way towards the table, taking note of how more and more people were continually gathering around as they approached. At first they thought there may have been a celebrity playing, but that thought was quickly debunked as they both knew that if there were any celebrities around, they were watching the Master League.

Once they finally got a good view of the participants, they saw two men sitting on opposite sides of each other, both of them with two cards sitting facedown in front of them. In the middle was a giant stack of chips which stacked up to about three feet tall.

One of the players was a gruff looking elderly man with a bushy white beard in a modest black suit. The other was a young man with blue eyes and short brown hair which boasted a series of blonde streaks; which Ash and Misty assumed were dyed. His clothing, much like the old man's was quite simple, nothing more than a zipped up green hoodie and jeans.

"Are you sure you want to call that?" The elderly man ran his fingers through his beard, throwing an inquisitive glare at the young man.

"Mhmm." He replied with a nod, folding his hands together and resting his elbows on the table.

On the center of the table, all five cards were revealed; a seven of hearts, a four of clubs, a king of hearts, a king of spades, and a two of hearts. Both players eyed the cards, as well as the stack of chips that towered over them. After a moment of starring each other down, the elderly man finally spoke.

"Flush." He said, flipping over a eight of hearts and an ace of hearts.

The young man cracked a grin. "That's nice, but it looks like I win." He flipped his two cards, revealing a pair of sevens. "Full house."

At that point, the crowd started chattering amongst themselves, providing personal commentary on the game as the young man wrapped his arms around the stacks of chips and pulled them greedily over to his side of the table.

"Hey Mist?" Ash gave her a slight elbow to the side, getting her attention. "What happened?"

"He won." She replied plainly.

"Oh."

The gambler started to push all of the chips he had earned into an empty sack, quickly filling it up with what could have easily been almost twenty thousand dollars worth of chips. As he filled the bag with the hundreds of plastic tokens, he momentarily averted his eyes over to Ash and Misty, taking note of the Pikachu sitting upon Ash's shoulder.

"Hey," He said, nodding towards Ash. "You're Ash Ketchum, right?"

Despite the fact that his face had become a bit of a public symbol as of late, Ash was still taken back by the man's familiarity with him. "Uh, yeah." He answered. "That's me."

After dumping the last bit of chips into the bag, he threw the sack over his shoulder; turning all of his attention to the trainer from Pallet. "I thought I recognized you." He smirked. "You did pretty good in your match yesterday."

"Thanks!" Ash grinned. "So what's your name?"

"Chase, Chase Gasiner" He answered. "You may have seen me compete yesterday." He added. "I was in the first match."

"Yeah," Ash started to scratch the back of his head. "Me and Misty here…. Kinda missed the first match yesterday."

Chase snickered. "Well, you can catch me in my next one later today." He tightened his grip on the bag of chips, keeping it from slipping out of his hand. "I just thought I'd stop by here and play a few games of before my match."

"It looks like you did a lot more than play a few games." Misty commented, tilting her head towards the hefty bag slumped over his shoulder.

He shrugged. "Eh, you can lose chips just as quick as you can win em'." He paused for a moment and looked up at the Staryu clock hanging on the wall, seeing that it was almost a quarter past five. "Well, my match should start in about an hour or so, so I better go cash these in and get ready." He turned back to the two trainers. "It was nice to meet you guys. I'll catch ya later."

"Uh, yeah." Ash replied. "See ya later."

With a nod, the gambler turned around and made his way to a nearby cash-in station to transfer all of his chips in for actual money, vanishing into the crowd.

"Let's get out of here, Ash." Misty sighed, still feeling a bit let down from the realization that there was no arcade. "I'd like to go walk down the beach for a bit."

"Sounds good to me." He agreed.

Cracking a faint smile, Misty reached out to Ash's hand and took it into hers as the two made their way out of the glowing, neon lit casino, and back onto the bright, sunny streets of Corsola Beach.

XXXXXXXXXX

The sun's warm rays shone down onto the ripples of the ocean, creating a serene sight before the young couple. Ash and Misty sat next to one another, looking on at the deep blue sea that stretched off into the endless horizon. The trainer from Pallet looked over at his beautiful girlfriend, unable to keep himself from smiling at the sight of how amazing she looked under the sun's light. He aqua green eyes shimmering, and her long red hair flowing behind her as the sea breeze blew onto them.

Misty let out a sigh of serenity as she wiggled her toes in the sand, letting the little grains of rock and quartz rub between them. Though she lived at the Cerulean City Gym, the beach had always been her true home. Like her father used to tell say, _"Arceus made a mistake by giving you feet instead of flippers"_.

"I love the beach _so_ much." She said, leaning her head back as she closed her eyes so she could intently listen to the sound of the waves gently crashing against the beach.

Ash let a chuckle escape him. "I can tell." He paused as he placed his hand next to her, allowing her to place hers atop of his. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you tagged along just to see the beaches."

Misty threw a glare at her boyfriend, cocking an eyebrow at him. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but _you're_ the one who invited _me_."

"Don't flatter yourself." Ash replied. "I'd have invited Brock, but he had other plans." He said jokingly.

Misty cracked a faint smile. "Oh would you now?" She turned her body towards Ash and laid down on her stomach, resting her elbows in the sand and her head in her palms. "Are you saying that you would have rather been in the company of Brock, instead of being all alone with a beautiful girl you've had a crush on since she fished you out of a river?"

"Hey!" Ash snapped. "I didn't _always_ have a crush on you!"

"One word," She smirked. "Rudy."

Ash rolled his eyes. "Are you seriously bringing up _him_ again?" The trainer's detest for the subject was made quite clear by his tone.

"I don't see what the big deal is." Misty giggled. "You didn't have a crush on me then, so why does it matter?" She threw him a wink.

The black haired trainer rolled his eyes. He could have made another vocal retort, but instead opted to lean forward and give Misty a light kiss on the forehead.

Misty let out a visible smile, as well as a faint squeak of happiness, in turn causing Ash to smile as well. After the trainer leaned back, the two teens looked into each other's eyes caringly. They both let out deep sighs of happiness as they soaked in the moment, allowing the soft sounds of the ocean crashing against the beach along with the caws of Wingulls to fill their ears as they took a moment to appreciate the tranquility they found with one another.

"Ash!"

The trainer and the Cerulean City Gym Leader faced inland, catching the sight of a brown haired and brown eyed girl running up to them.

_Great_. Misty thought, knowing exactly who she was.

"Oh," Ash spoke, seemingly a bit hesitant to even acknowledge the trainer. "Um… Hi Serenity."

"It's so great to see you again!" She squealed as she wrapped her arms around the trainer, causing him to jump back a bit, surprised by her sudden showing of affection. As she wrapped her arms around him, Ash held his in the air and looked over at Misty, making sure to silently relay the message that he didn't ask for this.

The gym leader cleared her throat in the most unsubtle way possible, causing Serenity's eyes to beam towards her. "How was your match yesterday?" Misty asked in a sly tone. "Oh wait, that's right, you didn't have one yesterday. Just your luck, huh?"

Serenity narrowed her eyes, letting go of Ash and placing her hands on her hips. "At least I'm actually getting to compete, instead of just being arm-candy."

Ash and Pikachu gulped. Serenity's words were the match, Misty's temper was the black powder, and sure enough it caused the redhead to go off with a bang. Misty shot up and got nose to nose with the trainer, her aqua green eyes burning hot with fire.

"That's some pretty big talk coming from someone who lost to this piece of arm-candy!"

"Oh please!" Serenity rolled her eyes in clear detest for the gym leader. "That was a fluke!"

"You wanna bet!?" Misty was already reaching for Gyarados' Poké Ball, ready to throw down with the trainer right there on the beach. Serenity didn't break eye contact with Misty, and judging by her expression, she was even judging as to rather or not she should reach for one of her Poké Balls as well. After a moment though, Serenity shook her head and stepped back.

"Sorry, but I've got a match today, and I can't let my Pokémon get tired out from beating up _your_ Pokémon.

Ash raised an eyebrow, intrigued to hear more. "Who are you going against?"

"Damian." She quickly answered, not showing the least bit of worry in her voice.

Ash gulped once again, intimidated by the sheer thought of going against that maniacal trainer again. "You seem pretty sure of yourself."

"Pika." Pikachu added.

Serenity turned to the trainer from Pallet with a confident smile spread across her face, and not a shed of worry in her expression. "I've studied his tactics." She said in a matter-of-fact tone. "He may have tough Pokémon, but they're far from invincible."

Misty slowly dropped her angered expression, and began to intently listen to Serenity. She hated to admit it, but her tone made it sound like she had some sort of idea as to what she was talking about.

"I've been watching him since the Indigo League," She explained. "and he _always_ uses Typhlosion, Absol, and Tropius." Serenity rolled her eyes as she spoke. "They're like, his _favorite_ Pokémon."

Misty began to narrow her eyes once again, a bit irritated by the girl's stereotypical teenage attitude and mannerisms. Though she couldn't exactly berate her for it, as she was just as guilty of using those mannerisms from time to time.

"So I figure that if I go in with Blastoise, Scyther, and Steelix, he won't know what hit em'!"

"Sounds like you've really done your research." Ash spoke up, intrigued by her seemingly well thought out strategy.

"Why thank you, Ash!" She replied sweetly, throwing her big brown eyes in his direction. "I'm glad _someone _can see it's a good strategy." She leaned down towards the still sitting trainer to presumably give him a kiss on the cheek. However, she was stopped when Misty snagged her by the back of her collar and pulled her away from him.

"Back off toots!" The fiery redhead growled, pulling Serenity away from her boyfriend, and causing her to yelp out in surprise.

Serenity glared at Misty, her eyes as sharp as daggers. She wanted to make some sort of retort, but wanted to appear as the bigger woman, and withheld herself. "Well, I should get going." She said calmly, brushing off her shoulders and straightening up the back of her collar. "I'll see _you_ after I beat Damian." She said, throwing a wink Ash's way.

Misty bit down on her lip, seeing the game that she was playing. Serenity wanted for her to explode, she wanted for her to open the gates and let forth her infamous temper. However, she wouldn't grant her that pleasure, not while she was around to see it anyways.

"Yeah," Misty snarled. "you should hurry."

Serenity snickered under her breath. She knew that she didn't have a shot with Ash, as he was wrapped around the redhead's finger so tightly that he probably felt guilty just for so much as giving a passing glance at another woman. However, she still hadn't let go of her grudge from Scarlett Town, and if flirting with Ash pressed her buttons, then she'd press every single one of them. As she left, she thought about blowing Ash a kiss, but she figured that might be a bit too much. Instead, she decided to wave at him like a love-struck middle school girl.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ooooo!" Bill's voice exclaimed through the speakers. "It looks like Electabuzz is down for the count!"

Jessie, James, and Meowth quietly watched the action taking place on the battlefield, all of them forgetting that they actually had a job to do. Jessie let out a deep sigh, her eyes glazed over and her expression blank. She had stopped paying attention to the battle a long time ago, and instead began to think about what her, James, and Meowth would do once they got back to Kanto.

_James and Meowth?_ She scrunched her face. _Why do I care about _them_? The only one that matters is number one, no one else._ She turned her gaze towards her two longtime companions, her expression slowly growing softer and softer the longer she looked at them. _Oh who am I kidding? I cried like a baby for a week after Arbok and Weezing left. I wouldn't know what to do without those two. _She took a deep breath, followed by another sigh. _Well, they don't have to know that. _

"Hey!" The gruff sound of their boss' voice boomed. "What are you three doing?!" All three of the former Team Rocket members shot straight up and quickly returned to their posts, and began waving around the concessions they were assigned with selling.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Where did May and Drew go?" Ash cocked his head slightly to the side, looking at the two empty chairs as they took their respective seats.

"I don't know." Misty shrugged. "I guess they must've wanted to get a bite to eat or something."

The black haired trainer and his Pikachu shrugged as well, figuring they'd return eventually. For now though, his concern was the match that was about to start. Unfortunately they had lost track of time and missed their chance to see Chase compete, but arrived just in time to hear Bill and Mary commentate about his victory. However, it wouldn't be much longer until Serenity and Damian's match. Initially both Ash and Misty thought that she wouldn't stand a chance, but after hearing her relatively sound strategy, they couldn't help but feel she might actually have a shot at beating him, or at the very least giving him a run for his money.

Once the field was cleared and had been repaired of all damages from the prior battle, the speakers began to boom once again as Mary's voice echoed throughout the arena. "Now, for our next match-up, we have Damian of Johto versus Serenity of Hoenn!"

Ash fixated his eyes on the two trainers at they took their sides of the field. Serenity's posture suggested that she was calm and collected, but serious and focused as well. Damian's body language on the other hand showed him to be more board than anything. His shoulders were slouched, his focus was away from the battlefield, and over all he seemed rather inattentive.

"Damian might want to start paying attention." Misty mumbled. "I hate to say it, but Serenity might actually win this if her strategy plays out well."

"Mhmm." Ash nodded, not taking his eyes away from the arena.

On the battlefield, the referee began to explain the rules of the three on three battle, stating that the first to run out of usable Pokémon would be defeated. After that he took hold of both the green and red flags, and asked both contenders if they were ready.

"Yeah!" Serenity replied, full of enthusiasm.

"Sure." Damian added, still staring off into the stands.

"Then let the battle begin!" The referee exclaimed, waving the flags down.

Like a switch had turned on in Damian's head, his attention immediately shifted to the battle as he reached for the first Poké Ball on his belt, flinging it onto the field. "Typhlosion, go!"

Serenity snickered. "Just like I suspected." She reached for the second Poké Ball back on her belt, and tossed it onto the field. "Blastoise, I choose you!"

As the ball opened up, the massive turtle took a stand and exposed his hydro cannons, eyeing his fiery opponent. Typhlosion returned the glare, not showing the slightest hint of fear, but instead showing a nearly feral expression.

"It looks like Serenity is starting out this battle with type advantage." Bill commented. "Damian and Typhlosion might be in for a bit of a surprise here."

Not allowing for her opponent to make the first move, Serenity quickly gave an order before Damian could even strategize a plan to counteract her. "Blastoise, make this quick! Use hydro pump!"

"Blas!" The water type lowered his body and took aim at the fire type. As he unleashed the barrage of raging water towards his opponent, Typhlosion stood his ground, not backing off in the slightest.

"Use dig!" Damian ordered. Without wasting another second, Typhlosion quickly started clawing into the ground, just managing to burrow himself away before the blasts of water could hit him.

Serenity growled in frustration, not expecting for her opponent to pull out a ground type move against a water type of all things. "Don't let him escape! Flood that tunnel!" Blastoise used the massive amount of strength in his legs to propel himself forward, landing right over the hole Typhlosion had hidden away in. Blastoise lowered his body, aiming his cannons into the burrow, and unleashed a second douse of water into the fire type's hiding place.

"Get out now!" Before Damian could even finish his order, his loyal Pokémon shot out of the ground about thirty feet away from where he initially burrowed, managing to escape before a geyser of water shot out of it.

Serenity wanted to order her Blastoise to turn his attention to Typhlosion, but he had already dedicated too much power and focus into his attack to stop it on the fly. This was all the advantage Damian needed to swoop in for the victory.

"Wild charge!"

Ash and Misty raised their eyebrows. "Wild charge?" They spoke in unison. This was a move neither one of them were familiar with, but judging by the name alone, it certainly didn't sound like something Blastoise would want to be hit by.

Typhlosion began dashing towards his water type opponent as arcs of electricity circulated around his body. Seeing the incoming danger, Serenity shouted out the only order she could think of that could save her Blastoise.

"Withdraw!"

The giant turtle quickly ceased his hydro pump, and tried to retreat into his giant shell. However, before he could withdraw completely, Typhlosion rammed hard into the water type's stomach, sending arcs of electricity coursing across his body.

Blastoise's thick shell smacked hard against the ground, causing a cloud of dust to arise around him. The referee took a close look at the downed Pokémon, and quickly came to the assertion that he wasn't getting up.

"Blastoise is unable to battle." He said as he raised both flags into the air. "Typhlosion is the winner!"

Serenity's heart dropped. The sound of the roaring crowd as well as Mary and Bill's commentary had become silent to her. Her entire strategy was based around getting a quick one-two on Damian's Pokémon before they could ever make a move. Now that the foundation of her plan was deconstructed though, she now had her back against the wall. She couldn't believe this was happening, she couldn't believe that all of the hard work it took to get here could now potentially be ripped away from her in the blink of an eye.

"Serenity," The referee spoke. "choose your next Pokémon."

The young trainer quickly turned her eyes to the referee, bringing herself back to reality. "Oh…. O..okay." She stuttered. Serenity shakily reached for her second Poké Ball. "Steelix, go!" This was her final feasible wall of defense. Though Steelix was vulnerable to fire, he still had many rock and ground based attacks that could take Typhlosion down if executed quickly enough. "Steelix," She called to the giant Pokémon. He turned to her and looked his trainer dead in the eyes, ready to follow any order she gave him. "This guy is tough, but I know you can win this." She paused for a brief moment. "You know what to do."

With a nod, Steelix turned away from his trainer and fixed his eyes on his opponent.

"Are both trainers ready?"

"Yeah." They answered in unison.

"Then let the next round begin!"

Without even receiving an order from Serenity, Steelix smashed his massive metallic tale onto the ground, sending a massive crevice towards his opponent.

"Oh my goodness!" Bill exclaimed. "Serenity is starting off the match with a fissure attack!"

"This could really help Serenity out if Steelix pulls this off." Mary added.

The crack in the earth traveled across the field, quickly making its way towards Typhlosion. Damian actually raised an eyebrow, not expecting such a bold, albeit powerful attack this early on. "Move out of the way!" He barked. The fire type used his superior agility to quickly leap to the side, allowing for the fissure to travel by him and miss completely. "Now follow it up with a flamethrower!" Taking in a deep breath, Typhlosion unleashed a wave of searing flames at the steel type, causing him to wail in pain.

"Steelix!" Serenity cried out, fearing for her Pokémon's well being. Once the flames ceased, the massive metal snake let out a groan as his massive body slammed onto the ground, creating a small tremor throughout the stadium.

"Steelix is unable to battle! The winner is Typhlosion!"

The crowd let out another roar of applause, all of them unanimously impressed by Typhlosion's one hit K.O.. However, Ash and Misty remained silently awe-struck.

"It's over, isn't it?" Misty murmured.

"It sure looks like it." Ash replied.

Serenity slowly pulled up her last Poké Ball, knowing that her final line of defense was a hopeless one. She began to feel her eyes water up as the realization that her defeat was no longer a likely-hood, but immanent. As she looked at her one and final Poké Ball, she took a moment to compose herself and fight back the tears that were gathering up. If she was going to be defeated, she would kick and claw until the very end. "Scyther, I choose you!"

As soon as the bug type hit the field, the crowd started to chat amongst themselves, taking note of her obvious disadvantage. Even the referee had to take a moment to gauge the situation. He was well aware that her Pokémon were already picked before the match began, but considering the disadvantage she was at, he figured it would have just been better to admit defeat now and spare her Pokémon the pain of battle.

The white haired trainer from Johto made a twisted laugh at the sight of his final victim. "Are you sure you want to do that?" He cackled. "If you forfeit now, it'll make this a lot easier on you."

"Not a chance!" She snapped. "I'll never give up!"

"Your funeral." He shrugged. "Alright Typhlosion, show that Scyther what the true meaning of pain is!"

Seeing that both trainers were ready for battle, the referee signaled for the match to begin.

From the very get-go, Serenity ordered for Scyther to unleash a razor wind attack, sending four waves of light towards his fire type opponent. Typhlosion tried to move out of the way, but the intense speed of the attack was far greater than his. As each wave smacked into him, he let out a roar of pain, though it was hardly anything he wouldn't quickly recover from.

"Hey!" Damian barked, clearly upset with his Pokémon's inability to dodge the attack. "Don't let him hit you like that! Burn that bug to a crisp!" The Johto starter nodded, signaling his compliance. The fire type then opened his jaws and shot forward a blast of fire at his swift opponent.

"Use agility!" Serenity shouted, trying to help Scyther avoid taking any damage. The green bug began using his wings to hover from place to place with nearly blinding speed, managing to avoid the burst of flames. Scyther may not have had type advantage, but if his speed could keep him from getting hit, then it wouldn't matter.

As Typhlosion fired burst after burst of fire that failed to hit his opponent, he and his trainer began to grow visibly frustrated. "He's making you look like an idiot!" Damian snarled. "Just burn it already!" Sensing his master's anger, the fire type opened his massive maw even farther, projecting a huge ball of fire at Scyther.

"Use air slash to get rid of that fireball!" Quickly heading her orders, Scyther used his blades to shoot forth a series of spinning blades of air, cutting straight through the fireball, and diminishing it into nothing more than a mere char as the powerful winds overwhelmed the sphere of flames. The spinning blades continued past the fireball, smacking hard into Typhlosion's chest, causing him to stumble back.

"What?!" Damian exclaimed, unable to believe that she was now not only dodging his attacks, but now countering them.

"Now follow it up with fury cutter!" Like a heavy wind, Scyther breezed across the field, getting right in his opponent's face. Once he was within striking distance, he unleashed a series of vicious attacks using his blades. Each cut sliced into the fire type's flesh, making him cringe in pain from each hit.

However after the fourth hit, he had clearly grown tired of being whaled on. With a furious roar, he reached up and grabbed Scyther's arms, holding them back. "Squash that bug!" Not needing to hear anything more, Typhlosion unleashed a stream of fire onto the bug type, causing for the entire audience to cringe as they could only imagine the amount of pain Scyther was going through.

"Oh no…" Serenity uttered, the rush of adrenaline quickly leaving her. As the flames cleared, her Scyther laid on the battlefield, his body blackened and charred. The referee prepared to call the battle, but stopped himself when he saw that the bug was making an attempt to get back onto its feet, much to the surprise of everyone watching, including Serenity and Damian.

"This insect has a lot of fight in him." The arrogant trainer mumbled as he watched the bug and flying type lift himself back up.

"Scyther!" Serenity cried out. "You don't have to get up! Stay down!" Though she had said she'd never quit and never back down, she was well aware that this fight was over and if it continued any further, then it would lead to nothing but hurting Scyther even more.

Despite her orders, the tenacious Pokémon continued to struggle back to his feet. Seeing that he wasn't going to listen to her orders to back down, Serenity pulled out Scyther's Poké Ball and attempted to recall him into the safety of his red and white sphere. As the red beam of light arced across the battlefield, Scyther quickly leapt out of the way, refusing to return to his Poké Ball.

There was a harmonious gasp in the crowd, and even in the commentating booth, as Bill and Mary couldn't help but voice their surprise with Scyther's refusal to return to his Poké Ball. "I can't believe what I'm seeing!" Mary gasped.

"Me neither," Bill replied. "This is something that doesn't happen often in major league battles."

Their commentary was gone unheard by Serenity, as all of her attention was focused on getting Scyther back into his Poké Ball. "Please Scyther! Return!" Once again, the Pokémon leapt out of the way of the red beam. "Scyther!" The brown haired trainer cried, letting a few tears escape from her. "If you keep fighting, he'll kill you!"

The referee wanted to just call the match, but he had no way of ending it unless Scyther was either incapacitated, or Serenity returned him and then admitted defeat. Technically the fight was now back in motion since he had gotten back onto his feet, and it would stay that way until either Scyther was returned or if he was incapable of continuing to battle.

Shaking his head at the sight before him, Damian shrugged. "Well, I gave you your chance to admit defeat." His malicious eyes began to slowly direct themselves towards Typhlosion. "Finish him off…." He ordered. "And make sure he doesn't get back up this time."

Serenity's heart dropped upon hearing his words. Though he didn't directly state it, she was well aware of what he really meant.

Typhlosion grabbed Scyther by his arms once again, and raised him up to his gapping jaw which had begun to gather a large amount of heat. The entire audience grew silent as they watched helplessly as Typhlosion committed what might as well have been an execution.

"He's not going to…" Misty raised a hand to her mouth, absolutely mortified at the sight taking place before her.

"No…" Ash gasped. "Don't do it!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, so loud that even Damian momentarily averted his eyes towards Ash's general direction.

"Inferno."

A blast of searing hot blue fire erupted from Typhlosion's mouth, completely engulfing the bug type. The heat was so hot that the metal chairs on the front row began to grow too hot to sit on, causing people to shoot up from their seats.

"No!" Serenity shrieked, tears cascading from her eyes as she begged for Damian to call off his attack. Up in the stands, Misty had to bury her face in Ash's shoulder, as she was unable to watch this brutal conclusion to the battle.

"Stop!" The referee ordered. "That's enough, Damian!"

Without a moment of delay, Damian called off the attack, allowing for the entire crowd to see the charred, burnt, and broken body of Scyther. Typhlosion then let go of his arms and allowed for him to fall to the ground, limp.

"Scyther is no longer able to battle! Typhlosion is the winner!" The referee quickly announced before running onto the battlefield to check to make sure Scyther was still alive. Following him were two Nurse Joys as well as Serenity, who was completely distraught. As they gathered around the body of the defeated bug Pokémon, the Nurse Joys quickly started to attempt to resuscitate him, hoping to find any signs of life.

Meanwhile, on the stands, Ash held Misty's head as she cried into his jacket. Neither one of them could believe what they had just seen. Sickening wasn't even a word that was strong enough to describe this. What they saw was just downright monstrous. To make it even worse, as the Nurse Joy's tried to tend to Scyther while Serenity busted into tears, fearing for her loyal friend's wellbeing, he did nothing but smile. A sick, twisted smile.

* * *

Yeah, like I said it's a little bit dark.

And don't worry, this'll be the last chapter we really see much of Damian for a while, now the focus is going directly to Ash... And perhaps a few certain individuals who have been lurking in the shadows.

Well, till the next update (4-5 days), see ya!


	32. Round 3: Rematch!

So yeah... I'm a bit (a lot) late on this update. Sorry, there really isn't an excuse, it's just that this chapter took me a while to write.

With that said, this is a pretty long chapter. Also, after this we'll be taking a brief brake from League battles, and we'll be seeing the return of certain... individuals...

Well, enjoy!

* * *

Ash laid in his bed, staring up at the ceiling of the cabin. The final moments of Damian and Serenity's match continued to replay in his head over and over again. The sight of Scyther's broken, and burnt body flashed though his mind again and again. Had there not been medical officials on standby, Ash was certain the Pokémon would have died right there on the battlefield. From the way it sounded though, it seemed like he'd never be able to battle again. His thick exoskeleton had been so badly damaged that it was nearly as brittle as glass, and if that were to shatter, Scyther would be a goner.

He turned towards Misty, who was lying in the bed next to his. She was quietly sleeping, snuggled tightly under her blanket. He envied her. His quarter-finals match was tomorrow, and he'd be going against Harrison of all people, the very same Harrison who knocked him out of the Silver Conference all those years ago. Ash couldn't help but pray to himself that this time it would turn out better than it did in Johto.

The trainer let out a sigh as he looked down at Pikachu, who was slumbering comfortably at his feet. _Well,_ He figured. _if Pikachu and Misty can fall asleep, then I should be able to too._ He took a deep breath and laid his head back on his pillow, closing his eyes in a hopeless attempt to let his mind drift off into a land of dreams…. It was going to be a long night.

XXXXXXXXXX

High above the clouds, a colossal airship soared across the starlit night sky. The massive vehicle was more like a floating structure than an aircraft. Its smooth metallic exterior formed an elongated and rounded frame, giving it an almost monolithic appearance. By looking at its design, one would think it impossible for it to remain suspended in the air, but with state-of-the-art hover technology, it was indeed quite possible.

Aboard this monster of an aircraft, Team Rocket grunts scrambled through the hallways, preparing for their imminent arrival at The Master League competition. In a mere twenty four hours, Team Rocket would launch the biggest raid in the syndicate's history.

Domino paced down one of the narrow hallways, the sound of her high heels clacking against the metal floor echoed throughout the corridors. That sound alone was more than enough warning for the lesser Rocket members to move out of the way, unless they dared face her fury.

The blonde Rocket Officer punched in a pass code on the panel leading to the "VIP" room as many of the grunts referred to it. None of them were too sure what went on in there, but they all knew that only the most important members were allowed access. As far as they were concerned, that was _all_ they needed to know about it.

Once the door opened, Domino stepped inside, allowing for the automatic door to seal shut behind her. The room was dimly lit, but the plush, dark red carpet seemed to radiate a natural brightness. The walls were covered with an abundance of décor as well. Banners, nicely framed pictures, even a pair of Donphan tusks. The only wall that remained undecorated though, was a single black wall on the far side of the room.

The blonde stepped up towards the black wall, and stopped about four paces from it. The wall seemingly came to life as light emitted from it, producing an image of her Boss leaning back in his chair, with his loyal Persian sitting next to him.

"You wanted to talk?" Domino spoke to the massive television screen.

"Yes." Giovanni hissed. "I wanted to inform you that there has been a slight alteration in our plans."

The officer raised an eyebrow. "What?" She replied to hide her snarl. She was already frustrated that Giovanni had sent her on a scouting mission for the past six months, and now that it was finally coming to a head, he was changing plans on her at the last minute? What could possibly have come up that would warrant something like this?

"When you arrive, there is one individual whom you must _not_ harm." He paused. "Aside from the Ketchum boy, of course."

"And who is this 'individual'?" She placed her hands on her hips as she started impatiently tapping her right foot on the carpet.

Giovanni's snobbish scowl turned to a discerning frown, slightly put off by Domino's attitude. "His name is Damian. He is one of the competitors in The Master League, and absolutely _no_ harm can come to him." As her boss spoke, an image of the long haired man appeared on the screen. "Do you understand?"

Domino sighed under her breath, happy to see that the change was nothing more than a trivial alteration. "Of course, sir." She replied as she moved her hands from her hips and crossed them. "Mind me asking why he's so important?"

The crime lord chuckled. "Sorry, Domino, but as you know, I can't tell you _everything_. You're only an officer, after all."

She didn't even try to hide her scowl. "What's that supposed to mean?!" Giovanni cocked his head slightly, a bit surprised by her outburst. "I've been jumping through hoops for you for eight years, and you can't even tell me why this _trainer _is so important?"

Giovanni let out a low growl. Domino was always a feisty one. Of course, he couldn't really complain about it, especially since she was his most reliable officers. "Listen, Domino. Team Rocket has big plans for the future, and to execute these plans, we need to make sure the playing field is in our favor. That's all you need to know."

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes. "I've got to go over the briefing with the kid. So if you'll excuse me, I've got to go." Domino turned away from the screen and started towards the door, not waiting to be properly dismissed.

"Domino!" He barked, causing her to stop at the door. "Be sure to contact me after you've captured that Ketchum boy."

The blonde turned her head towards the screen, and glared into Giovanni's deep, set-in eyes. "Of course." She paused for a moment, trying to decide rather or not she should call him by that name he so deeply despised. Though she fought the urge, her spiteful nature was able to get the better of her. "Daddy."

XXXXXXXXXX

The sun began to glare into Misty's eyes through the window, causing the redhead to instinctively roll over to shield herself from the bright rays of light. Unfortunately for her, all hope of returning to her peaceful slumber vanished the moment light seeped between her eyelids.

Letting out a groan, the gym leader threw her blankets off and turned to face Ash's bed. She expected to see him lying there in a nearly comatose state. Instead, she was met by an empty bed. The sheets were even folded and nicely made.

She cocked an eyebrow, wondering if Ash had even gone to bed the night before. He wasn't the type of person to normally wake up before her if there was a warm bed involved, and he certainly wasn't the type of person to make his bed after sleeping in it.

"Ash?" She called, looking around the empty cabin.

"Yeah?" a voice came from behind the bathroom door.

"You're up awfully early." She replied as she changed out of her pajamas and into her regular attire.

"I had trouble sleeping last night, so I woke up a bit early." His voice echoed from the other room.

Misty felt a slight tinge in her stomach. Now was not the time for him to be having sleeping issues. Today was going to be a huge day for him, even more so than usual. Harrison had already beaten Ash before, and she was scared to see what he could bring to the table four years later.

"Maybe you should take a nap or something." Misty said as she folded the sheets on her bed. "Your match doesn't start for another few hours."

"Nah," He quickly replied. "I'll be fine."

Misty couldn't help but take a deep breath, trying to get her heart to slow down. She found it rather silly that she was so worried about him losing. It wasn't like _she_ was the one who had to earn all of those gym badges. However that didn't change the fact that if he lost, then not only would one of his biggest dreams be shot down once again, but he'd also be traveling to Unova shortly afterwards.

"If you say so, Ash."

XXXXXXXXXX

"I'm telling you Lance, something's not right." Cynthia spoke as her and the Kanto Champion made their way down the halls of the penthouse floor of Zerra Stadium. "I know you were able to beat him, but Damian is just _too_ good. So much so that it wouldn't surprise me if he's hiding something."

Lance didn't reply, but instead remained silent and kept his eyes fixated in front of him.

"He's been wrecking the competition left and right, and neither him nor his Pokémon have so much as broken a sweat." The blonde haired champion turned to Lance and gave him quite an inquisitive stare. "I don't know what he's done to make his Pokémon this strong, but I bet it's something that he can be disqualified for."

Lance took a deep breath and held it in before exhaling. "Cynthia, Mr. Goodshow asked for me to keep quiet about this since we don't have any evidence to back it up, but there has been an ongoing investigation regarding Damian's 'methods'."

Cynthia stopped dead in her tracks and turned her whole body towards Lance, a look of intrigue painted across her face. "What do you mean by 'methods'?"

The redheaded champion quickly looked around the hall, making sure nobody else was around to hear their private conversation. "You see, judging by his Pokémon's behavior and tendencies in battle, we've come to suspect that Damian is using a training regiment similar to that of Team Rocket's."

Cynthia's eyes didn't widen, nor did she show any look of surprise. The idea that Damian would resort to using such cruel tactics to make his Pokémon more resilient in battle didn't seem too far fetched to her. "You mean radiation egg therapy?"

Lance nodded. "His Pokémon have similar tendencies to those who were exposed to light amounts of microwaves while in the egg. Due to that, their nerve endings are dulled, resulting in seemingly indestructible Pokémon."

"But these are the same Pokémon you defeated at the Indigo League?" Cynthia replied. "How are they so much stronger now?"

"We think there may be some gene manipulation going on as well, though we don't have anything to prove it."

"Well that's just wonderful." Cynthia sighed, throwing her hands up in the air. "First Team Rocket starts going on a hunt for a legendary Pokémon, now we have someone who is using illegal training tactics _and _has a strong likely hood of becoming a champion."

Lance frowned, a bit off-put by Cynthia's last remark. "Even if that's the case, he'll want revenge on me for beating him the first time. So that'll still leave me with the Johto region."

"And what's your point?"

"My point is, is even _if_ he can beat me, I'll still be champion. So me, you, and Steven can still operate around him."

"If you say so, Lance." The Sinnoh Champion grumbled. "Lets just hope that either someone knocks him out of the tournament, or we can dig up some evidence that will get him disqualified."

"Honestly, Cynthia," Lance started to shake his head while looking down at his feet. "Neither seem to be very likely to happen."

XXXXXXXXXX

Misty took a seat next to May on a park bench just outside of Zerra Stadium, absent mindedly watching her Eevee play and frolic with May's Glacion. May was talking about some of her past contest experiences, but they just went in one ear and out the other. It wasn't that Misty wasn't interested, it was just that she couldn't quit worrying about Ash and his Pokémon.

She was certain that he could beat Harrison, even though it would be a challenge. She was even almost positive he could beat Paul without too much issue. What worried her though, was who he'd have to face in the finals, assuming he made it there.

After seeing the stunt he pulled the night before, she was almost certain that Damian wouldn't hesitate to kill Ash's Pokémon if they proved too resilient. The worst part was if he did it, he would probablyget away with it too. Deaths in Pokémon battles were a rarity, but not something that was unheard of. The Pokémon League made very few rules regarding the mortality of Pokémon during battle, as it was so rare, and the only times they did happen, they were sheer freak accidents.

"Are you alright, Misty?" May asked, snapping the redhead back into reality.

"Oh, yeah." She replied. "I'm just thinking about Ash's battle, that's all."

"You worry too much." May said, rolling her eyes. "Ash'll be fine. He's not that little kid you grew up with anymore."

Misty smirked. "You'd be surprised."

"Whaddya mean?" The Coordinator cocked her head slightly.

"Let's just say that he'll always be the little ten year old I fished out of a river."

"Oh c'mon, he's had to have grown up a _little_ since you left?"

Misty shook her head. "In some ways." She paused. "He may be more mature, but he's still the same." The gym leader looked up at the sky, reminiscing on her childhood adventures with Ash, Brock, and Pikachu. "I think that's what I really like about him. He has that same charm he had when I first met him. He still loves Pokémon more than anyone I've ever met, and he still has that same enthusiasm about becoming the best trainer in the world. But at the same time, he has grown up without losing those qualities."

May couldn't help but smile. Both because she was happy to see that Misty was so content with Ash, and also because she was happy to hear Ash hadn't changed much since her adventures in Hoenn.

"May, Misty!" Drew called.

"Yeah?" May turned around, facing the green haired Coordinator, who was standing near the entrance to the stadium.

"I think Ash's match is starting soon."

As they gathered their things, the two girls reached for their Poké Balls and returned Eevee and Glacion to their spherical homes before heading towards the stadium entrance. As they made their way inside, Misty couldn't help but continue thinking about Ash. She knew deep down that he had what it took to win this battle, but she was still unsure if _he_ felt the same way.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash took a stand on his side of the field, Pikachu standing next to him. He wanted to wish Harrison good luck before the battle, but he just couldn't bring himself to face him until they met up in the arena. It wasn't that he held any ill will towards the trainer, it was just that he was far too scared to face him without the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins.

Even looking at Harrison from the opposite side of the battlefield was making him feel on edge. While Ash was trying to keep himself from shaking in his shoes, Harrison was smiling, of course. He didn't seem to have the slightest hint of worry in his expression. Honestly, if Ash wasn't so sure that Harrison was such a nice guy, he'd have believed that his opponent thought he was a push-over.

The black haired trainer nodded towards Pikachu, signaling him to leap from his side and onto the battlefield. Across the stadium, Harrison did the same with Houndoom, who was standing at his side as well.

Remaining silent, the referee stood by and idly watched as the two Pokémon took their respective sides, and prepared for battle. "This is going to be a four-on-four battle." He announced. "The first to run out of usable Pokémon will lose the match. Is that clear?"

"Yeah," Ash and Harrison answered simultaneously.

Seeing that both trainers were ready, the referee threw down both of his arms to signal the start of the first battle. "Then let the match begin!"

"Pikachu!" Ash ordered. "Start this off with a quick attack!"

"Pika!" The little mouse replied, dashing across the battlefield with incredible speed.

"Going for the first hit, huh?" Harrison smirked. "Well sorry Ash, but that's not gonna happen! Houndoom, faint attack!" As the yellow blur that was screaming across the field drew in closer to dark fire type, Houndoom began to seemingly fade away, causing Pikachu to screech to a halt, confused as to where his opponent went.

"Pikachu, it's a trap! Look out!"

"Pika?" The yellow rodent began to look around sporadically, trying to find his opponent before getting hit. However, Houndoom's dark power concealed him so well, that Pikachu couldn't find any trace of him.

Ash growled in frustration, knowing that Houndoom would reappear where Pikachu wasn't looking and smash right into him. The trainer started to think of how Pikachu could work around this, a way to cover all angles… "I got it!" He exclaimed. "Pikachu! Use discharge!"

"Houndoom, look ou.." Before Harrison could give his order, Pikachu unleashed a wave of electricity around his entire body, causing arcs of lightning to crackle and dance in his surrounding radius. One of the arcs managed to hit Houndoom, who was blanketed in his dark power, causing him to reappear as the powerful charge of electricity jolted through him. The Pokémon howled in pain, but still managed to keep enough self control to leap back and get away from the dangerous and powerful bolts of electricity. "You alright, Houndoom?" Harrison asked. Without any delay, his Pokémon nodded, not hinting at any sign of doubt in his expression. "Okay then, let's see him use electricity to save him from a flamethrower!"

The canine opened his jaws and shot a barrage of fire at his opponent. Pikachu didn't need to hear a command from Ash to stop discharging electricity and move out of the way from the attack. Houndoom directed his head towards Pikachu, following the mouse with his steady stream of fire. Fortunately for Pikachu, his speed was far too great for Houndoom's flamethrower to catch him.

"Pikachu!" Ash called. "Use your agility to get closer to him!" Without questioning his order, Pikachu pivoted on his front left foot, and charged towards his opponent, using his nimbleness to evade the flamethrower that Houndoom was still firing upon him with.

With his great finesse and speed, Pikachu managed to swerve out of the way of Houndoom's final burst of fire, and ran directly under the canine's torso. "Now zap him with Thunderbolt!"

"I don't think so!" Harrison shouted. "You know what to do!" As Pikachu unleashed a powerful surge of electricity from his cheek pouches, a green shield appeared around Houndoom, shielding him from the attack.

"Of course…" Ash mumbled. "Protect."

"Now knock Pikachu back!" With a powerful swipe from his front right paw, he sent Pikachu flying back, causing the mouse to tumble on his back and land on his stomach. "And follow it up with a crunch attack!" Houndoom began sprinting towards the downed rodent, his mouth agape, and his teeth exposed.

"Get out of the way, Pikachu!" Ash's command was in vain. Houndoom scooped Pikachu up with his powerful jaws, and began crushing down on him, causing Pikachu to yelp and cry in pain as the sharp fangs dug into him. Ash knew that if he didn't do something about this, Pikachu would be out of the battle… fast.

Thinking quickly, the trainer from Pallet was finally able to come up with a counter. "Pikachu, use thunder wave!"

Not wasting a second, The electric mouse discharged another wave of electricity from the red pouches on his cheeks, sending pulses of electricity through Houndoom's body, causing him to howl in pain and giving Pikachu enough leeway to break free from the grasp of his jaws.

Once Pikachu was free, Ash sighed in relief, happy to see that his little friend was no longer being crushed by the canine's powerful jaws. After his brief celebration, Ash redirected his attention at his opponent's Pokémon, seeing that tiny arcs of electricity were still flowing through Houndoom. He was certainly paralyzed. "Perfect." Ash smirked. "Now take him down with double edge!"

"Pikachu!" The electric Pokémon replied, sharing the same smirk as his master. Pikachu began sprinting towards his opponent, with all the speed he could muster, and smashed into Houndoom with every bit of weight he had and then some.

The fire type flew back on contact, and was knocked off of his feet. Normally a move like that from a Pokémon as small as Pikachu wouldn't take him down so easily. However, when paired up with his paralysis, there was no way he could get back onto his feet.

"Houndoom is unable to battle!" The referee announced. "Pikachu is the winner!"

The crowd went into an uproar of applause once the round ended, cheering for more. While they hooted and hollered, Ash took a moment to praise his starter on a job well done. He was able to get the first win, and that was certainly a plus in his favor. As much as he hated to admit it, he was secretly expecting for Harrison to clean house in the first round, but fortunately that was not the case.

"Harrison," The referee directed his gaze at the young adult. "choose your next Pokémon."

"Sure." He replied, not showing the slightest bit of concern in his tone or his expression as he reached for his next Poké Ball. "Miltank, I choose you!"

"Uh oh." Ash gulped, having flashbacks to his gym battle with Whitney. When he beat her, he had Totodile use his water gun to blast trenches into the dirt to allow for Pikachu to get under her Miltank. Unfortunately for him, he didn't bring a water type to this battle.

Ash began to mentally scold himself for making such a mistake, especially considering that he knew Harrison had a Miltank. Well, it was too late to go back now. He still had a chance of paralyzing Harrison's Miltank with Pikachu, as well as three other Pokémon on backup.

"You think you can handle this, Ash?" Harrison asked with a sly smile.

"You better believe I can!" He replied. "Pikachu, you've got this!"

"Pika!" The Pokémon added, pumped and ready for battle.

The second the referee waved his flags, both Pokémon shot towards the center of the arena. Miltank using her devastating rollout attack, while Pikachu used his excellent agility. Once the two came to nearly meeting in the center of the Poké Ball outline in the middle of the field, Pikachu had to shy away towards the left to avoid being run over by the rolling pink and black wheel of destruction.

"Miltank!" Harrison called. "show Pikachu how good _your _agility is!" Like turning on a dime, Miltank took a sharp right turn, and began to steamroll its way towards Pikachu.

"Whoa!" Misty gasped. "I've never seen a Miltank move like that!"

Drew's eyes averted from the battle and towards Misty. "Yeah, her form is absolutely perfect. Harrison must've trained her _very_ well."

The redhead sighed as her head fell into the back of her seat. "Great, not only is it strong and durable, but it's fast and agile too."

"Pikachu, use a thunder wave to stop that Miltank in its tracks!" Without any fear or hesitation, the yellow mouse pivoted on its right foot, and faced the massive Pokémon as two charges began to pulse through the pouches in his cheeks.

"Throw dirt on him!" Harrison commanded. Miltank made a hard turn to the right, causing her to shoot dirt up as she skidded. The chunks of soft dirt smacked square into Pikachu's face, not only momentarily blinding him, but also absorbing all of the electricity he had built up.

"Oh no!" Ash exclaimed. "Pikachu, look out!" The order came too late, as the rolling Miltank had already plowed over the little rodent before his words had a chance to reach his Pokémon's ears. With a hard and loud _smack_, Pikachu slammed into the wall separating those in the stands from the battlefield, and fell to the hard-packed ground.

"Pikachu is unable to battle, Miltank is the winner!"

Ash ran up to his downed Pokémon, picking him up and checking to see if he was okay. It took him a second, but after a moment, the Pokémon came to, and began to look around confusedly. "You did great out there, Pikachu." Ash praised, cradling him in his arms. After giving his master a nod, Pikachu passed out once again, going limp in Ash's arms.

A Chancey that was standing on the sidelines walked up to him and took Pikachu off of his hands, carrying the Pokémon inside so he could receive proper treatment. As Ash watched his Pokémon get carried away, he began shuffling through his Poké Balls, trying to figure out which one to use next.

After weighing his options for a moment, Ash finally came to a decision. It was a bit of a long shot, but it was probably his best choice. "Donphan, I choose you!"

Harrison raised an eyebrow, intrigued by Ash's choice in Pokémon. However, he was certain that if Ash planned on beating his Miltank with Donphan's own rollout attack, then he had another thing coming.

Once both Pokémon were on the field, the referee gave the go ahead, and the battle began. From the very get-go, Ash and Harrison both ordered for their Pokémon to use rollout, and both began spinning towards the center of the battlefield.

The two rolling Pokémon met up at the center of the field with the force of two cars in a head-on collision. Neither side would give an inch though, as they continued spinning in place, causing both of them to burrow into the ground and send huge chunks of dirt flying back.

"This isn't going anywhere…" Harrison mumbled. "Miltank, roll back around and pick up speed!" Without any delay between order and action, Miltank managed to turn just enough to skid away, and pick up speed.

The two Pokémon rolled around and around the battlefield, continuing to do nothing but pick up speed. They were going so fast at this point that they had practically become a blur to anyone who didn't have a bird's eye view of the battle, and even so it was hard to see what was going on.

"Miltank," Harrison called. "slam into Donphan's side!" Taking a sharp turn, Miltank recalculated its direction and began rolling towards Donphan's left flank.

"Brace yourself!" Ash yelled, realizing that Donphan had gained too much momentum to stop, and was nowhere near as agile as Miltank was, so skidding out of the way was out of the question. Despite this, he still had a plan brewing inside his head, but he knew he'd have to think quick if it were to work.

Miltank slammed into Donphan with incredible force, sending the ground type flying in the air, still spinning. The entire audience went into unanimous silence as they watched the elephant-like Pokémon shoot up nearly thirty feet into the air from the force of the impact.

"Now come down hard for an earthquake!"

"Wait, what?" Harrison had to take a moment to process what Ash had just asked of his Pokémon, by the time it had registered though, it was too late for him to do anything about it.

Donphan uncoiled herself and landed with all four feet square against the battlefield, which at this point had become littered with trenches and potholes. As the force of all of her weight hit, the ground started to shake violently, sending shockwaves throughout the battlefield. Once the shockwaves hit Miltank, she was sent flying into the air, and uncoiled from her rollout attack.

"Oh no!" Harrison tried to come up with a retort to Ash's attack, but he was having enough trouble keeping himself standing while the ground around him shook with enough force to tear down a small house.

"Now finish her off with hidden power!" Donphan stamped one of her hooves into the ground as two white sphere's began to encircle her in an "X" formation. After a moment, the two spheres began to fade away as their energy was transferred into the Pokémon. Then with one huge blast, Donphan unleashed a huge amount of raw power directly towards Miltank, engulfing the Pokémon in a blast of light.

"No, Miltank!" Harrison exclaimed, as he shielded his eyes from the bright light. Once the light cleared, he brought his gaze back to the battlefield to see that Miltank was completely incapacitated.

"Miltank is no longer able to battle, Donphan is the winner!"

"Yes!" Misty and May cheered, jumping up from their seats. "I knew he could do it!" The redhead squealed.

"Of course he could do it!" May giddily added.

"You two are _such_ girls." Drew said, rolling his eyes.

Misty quickly shot a glare at the green haired Coordinator. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing! Nothing, I swear!" He quickly replied, holding his hands up defensively.

"That's what I thought." She huffed as she returned to hear seat.

On the battlefield, Harrison returned his Miltank to her Poké Ball, and began to gauge his current situation. He was down two to Ash's one. However, Ash might as well have been down by two. His Donphan may not have taken that much damage, but it clearly wasn't used to using rollout for long periods of time like that. She was winded, and tired. He knew that if Ash had any sense, he'd swap her out and give her a chance to catch her breath.

After putting Miltank's Poké Ball back on his belt, Harrison reached for his next one. There were a few scuff marks on this Poké Ball, a sign of heavy usage, a common feature on Poké Balls of starter Pokémon. With a powerful throw, Harrison flung the sphere onto the battlefield, freeing his first Pokémon, Blaziken.

The trainer from Pallet took a deep breath. That Blaziken had given him one of the hardest fights of his life. It even managed to take down Charizard, his strongest Pokémon in a fair fight. However, Ash was prepared for this. He had his own secret weapon just for this battle.

"Donphan, return." Ash said as the red light from the Poké Ball returned the tired Pokémon to her spherical shelter.

Up in the stands, May leaned forward in her seat, slightly perplexed. "What is Ash doing? He has type advantage?"

"You've never seen Harrison's Blaziken, have you?" Misty replied. "That Blaziken is able to leap almost a hundred feet in the air, and he's just way too fast for Donphan to catch him. This was a good move on Ash's part."

"Whaddya think he'll pick next then?"

The redhead bit down on her lower lip, unsure of what Ash had in his current arsenal. "I… Don't know."

On the battlefield, Ash took hold of a Poké Ball suspended on the back of his belt. Though he hadn't battled with this Pokémon very often, he knew he could always count on him. Even now, against one of Harrison's strongest Pokémon.

"Muk, I choose you!"

"Muk?"

"Muk?"

"Ew, gross!" May quivered. "Why would he use _that_?"

Misty was completely speechless. She had no idea what Ash was thinking by having Muk go head to head against Blaziken, but the look on his face showed that he seemed pretty sure that the massive pile of purple sludge would be able to pull off a victory, so she forced herself to refrain from making any outbursts… For now.

"Wow, a Muk? Really?" Harrison raised an eyebrow.

"Mhmm." Ash smirked. "Muk is my secret weapon!"

"His smell, maybe."

The black haired trainer began to make a slight scowl. "We'll see about that."

Also perplexed by Ash's choice in Pokémon, the referee asked both sides if they were ready, once they gave him the go-ahead, he signaled for them to begin the battle.

"Let's make this quick Blaziken!" Harrison exclaimed, feeling quite sure that this would be an easy victory. "Use flare blitz!"

Without question his master in even the slightest, Blaziken shot himself towards his sludge opponent like a missile, waves of fire surrounding his body. Even though many in attendance had averted their eyes, not wanting to see what would happen when a mass of living sewage explodes into hundreds of little chunks, Muk and Ash seemed completely unfazed by this.

"You know what to do, Muk. Just like we talked about!"

The fire-fighting type Pokémon's burning body crashed into Muk with enough force to incapacitate a Snorlax, causing a small explosion to occur on the field. As smoke and ember shot up into the air, everyone in attendance had returned their eyes back to the arena, now suddenly eager to see what mess Blaziken had left behind. However, what they found though, was quite shocking.

In the center of the field, Blaziken and Muk both stood. Neither one looked as though they'd received any damage, though Blaziken did have a slightly puzzled look on his face. As the smoke cleared even more, the audience began to make out that there was a sizzling liquid covering Muk's body.

"Acid armor…" Harrison huffed. "Pretty clever."

"Sure was, wasn't it?"

"Well it's not going to do you much good now! Blaziken, use double kick to get through that shield of acid!" The fire type leapt into the air, and threw a hard roundhouse kick into Muk's liquid armor, sending sizzling chunks of it flying off, exposing his gooey body, then followed it up with another kick, straight to what both Blaziken and Harrison assumed was his head.

Just as his second kick made contact with Muk's skin though, his leg began to sink into the poison type's body. Muk seemed to show no pain, nor any concern. He just seemed rather indifferent about the fact that a body part was literally sticking into his own goo-like body.

"Blaziken is part fighting type." Ash spoke. "And I'd like to see your Blaziken try to punch its way through a pile of sludge!"

Harrison took a deep breath and crossed his arms. "Clever thinking. Except you forgot about the part where Blaziken can also use fire attacks!" Retaking his battle stance, the trainer gave his Pokémon his next order. "Jump back and give Muk a taste of your flamethrower!"

Using his powerful legs to propel himself upward, Blaziken shot up nearly forty feet into the air with incredible speed. During the brief time the fire-fighting type was suspended in the air, he opened his beak and prepared to unleash a wave of fire at his opponent. Then, just as the first spark lit, Blaziken found his entire body acing in pain. Unable to attack, the Pokémon fell back to the ground and knelt down as he clenched his sides.

"Blaziken, what's wrong?!" Harrison exclaimed, easily telling that Ash's Muk had done something to him.

"You didn't think Blaziken would get covered in gook and _not_ get poisoned, did you?" Ash snickered.

Biting down on his lip, The Hoenn native had to give credit where credit was due. Ash tended to lean in favor of the direct and unorthodox approach in battles, but this proved to show that he also had quite a strategic mind as well. He _knew_ Blaziken would use a physical attack, and he _knew_ that poisoning Blaziken would weaken him to the point where he just wouldn't be able to battle up to par.

"If you think that a little poison is going to stop Blaziken, you're dead wrong!" Harrison knew he was lying to both Ash and himself. Blaziken had sustained poisoning during battle before, but whatever Muk had brewing up in his wretched insides must've been something quite potent, because never before had Harrison seen his starter _this_ hurt from mere poisoning. He was quite sure that at this point there was no way to win this round, but Blaziken could certainly take Muk down a few pegs before the poison took him down. "Blaziken, use blaze kick!"

The Hoenn starter's feet began to light up as he went in for a series of blazing roundhouse kicks. Muk was far too slow to do anything more than take them. Unlike double kick, this one actually did some damage to the poison type. The searing hot flames seared through his gunk body, causing part of him to boil as he let out a deep wail of pain for each burning foot that crashed through his body. After delivering one more vicious kick, Blaziken leapt back a few feet, showing little signs of being effected by the poison. Once he landed, he began to dash towards Muk once again, this time the cuffs around his fists burning red hot.

"Muk, come back at him with gunk shot!" The poison type took one of his gloopy hands and reached into what Ash, Harrison, and all those in attendance assumed was his torso. What he pulled out looked like a fusion between slime and something that too strongly resembled sewage for Ash's taste. Then with one strong fling, Muk launched the nasty projectile at his opponent, hitting him square in the chest.

"Blaziken!" Harrison cried as the hunk of sludge hit his Pokémon with enough force to knock it square off of its feet. The trainer watched on as his Pokémon slowly tried to get back onto his feet, but it was clear that if he got up, Muk would just have another chunk of nastiness waiting to throw at him. That paired up with the poisoning that was now clearly beginning to take its toll on the Pokémon warranted Harrison enough reasoning to withdraw the Pokémon and forfeit the round.

"Sorry buddy, but I just can't let you battle like this." He said as the red light returned the quite reluctant Pokémon to his Poké Ball. He may have been able to continue battling, but his physical abilities would have done nothing but go down hill from there. Though he hated having to forfeit the round, it truly was the best thing for him to do.

Misty let out a huge sigh of relief. Blaziken was her biggest worry, and Ash seemingly had beaten him without even needing to put up too much of a fight. Some may have seen using poisoning as a slightly dirty tactic, but nobody could argue that it was a smart tactic.

Harrison pulled out his fourth, and last Poké Ball. Blaziken may have been his most loyal and most experienced Pokémon, but he was hardly a fraction as strong as this one. "Go!" He shouted, tossing the red and white orb onto the battlefield, freeing a massive dinosaur-like Pokémon.

Ash gulped, looking up at the towering behemoth. "I see you've been to the Safari Zone in Kanto."

"Sure have." Harrison smirked. "So Ash, what do you think of my Kangaskhan?"

"I think it's going down!" The black haired trainer replied, recalling Muk back to the shelter of his Poké Ball. "That Kangaskhan may be big and strong, but I've got something even better!" He reached for another Poké Ball, tightening his grip around it as he held it up. "Torterra, I choose you!"

The audience roared in applause at the sight of the two massive Pokémon getting ready to collide before them. On one side, Ash's Torterra bellowed a deep cry, as he reared back and slammed his front feet into the ground. On the other side, Harrison's Kangaskhan began to beat its chest with its fists and returned the roar.

As soon as the referee called for the match to start, both Pokémon rushed towards the center of the arena, and charged into each other with all the force and momentum they could possibly muster. Kangaskhan gripped onto the brim of Torterra's shell, while Torterra, continued to push against Kangaskhan, using his lower frame to hold its ground.

Both of the monstrous Pokémon dug their feet into the war-torn ground, leaving their huge footprints imbedded in the dirt. Ash's Torterra tried to muster up another bit of strength, but Kangaskhan managed to lift the grass type's front half off of the ground, pulling him up by his shell.

"Flip him!" Harrison commanded.

Thinking fast, Ash yelled the first thing that came to his head. "Use grass knot to pull Kangaskhan's legs out from under it!"

Using two vines that extended out from his sides, Torterra wrapped one around each of his opponent's legs, and gave them both one big pull. However, much to both Ash and Torterra's surprise, Kangaskhan remained motionless, his feet seemingly planted into the ground, not even moving an inch.

"You're going to have to do better than that, Ash!"

Desperate for a quick counter, Ash looked down at the cracked and fissured dirt around the two Pokémon, giving him an idea. "Dig your vines into the cracks in the ground!" Not even taking a moment to question his master's order, Torterra loosened his vines from Kangaskhan, and began burrowing into the dirt with them. "Now pull yourself back down!" With a firm tug, Torterra was able to use the weight of the earth around him to outmatch Kangaskhan's immense strength.

The turtle's front feet slammed into the ground, causing the ground to shake and tremor, throwing his opponent off for just a moment. "Now slam into it!" Using his free moment to attack, Torterra smashed the front of his shell square into Kangaskhan's stomach, sending the dinosaur to stumbling back.

"Now, use earthquake to knock it down while it's dazed!" Raising one massive foot up, Torterra roared as he slammed it into the ground, causing the entire battlefield to shake with violent tremors, also creating more cracks and fissures in the already damaged battlefield.

"Kangaskhan, endure!" Using all of its natural physical abilities, the normal type was able to plant its feet into the ground and maintain balance as the shockwaves passed by, remaining seemingly unaffected by Torterra's powerful attack. "Now, show Torterra what your giga impact can do!"

Gasping, Ash knew he had to come up with a counter, and fast. Torterra was far too slow to move out of the way, and though he may have been durable, there was no way he'd be able to come back from a head-on hit from giga impact.

Kangaskhan began rushing down the field, surrounded by orange streaks and a shield of purple light. With each footstep that crashed into the ground, Ash could feel not just the ground shake, but his heart skip a beat. There was nothing he could do to stop his opponent, but there was _one_ possible way to recover, but Torterra would have to withstand the attack first.

"Brace yourself!" Going on nothing but his master's commands, the grass type lowered his front half towards the ground, trying to hold his ground solely on his weight. When the dinosaur-like Pokémon crashed into him though, not even all the weight in the world could save him.

The turtle flew backwards, crashing onto his back, causing yet another tremor to fill the stadium as his massive shell left a crater imbedded into the ground. With a loud '_crack_', Ash could hear the sound of the small tree on his back snapping under all of his weight. Fortunately, though the tree was one of his methods of photosynthesizing, it wasn't anything but a superficial wound.

Torterra remained flat on his back, not moving in the slightest. Seeing this, the referee began to hold up his flags and prepared to announce Kangaskhan's victory. "Torterra is unable to battle. So the winner of the battle is…"

"Use synthesis!"

A sudden glowing light overtook Torterra as the stored energy inside of his shell started producing a natural healing supplement. With his new found energy, the grass type rolled back onto his feet, the tree on his back immediately re-growing and repairing itself with the effect of synthesis.

"W..what's going on?!" Harrison was completely taken back by Ash's bold, albeit strategic move. Most trainers would have used synthesis before the hit, guaranteeing their survival of the move. Ash however, chose to wait until after the attack, that way Kangaskhan would be tired out from using giga impact, and Torterra would be completely fresh. "Kangaskhan, you have to…"

"Sorry, Harrison." Ash grinned. "But this match is over! Torterra, use leaf storm!"

The newly revived tree on his Pokémon's back began to glow with a luminescent green light, as a cyclone erupted from the branches, and hundreds of razor sharp leaves began to fly towards his opponent at speeds faster than the human eye could even see.

As each leaf ripped into the exhausted Kangaskhan, it cried out in pain, trying to shield itself with its arms. However, these attempts proved to have no effect in holding back the leaves. Wave after wave crashed into the Pokémon, causing it to stumble back and lose its footing.

Once the large Pokémon's back smashed into the ground, one final tremble filled the arena, once the tremble ended, so too did the match. "Kangaskhan is no longer able to battle, so Torterra is the winner! Also, Harrison is out of usable Pokémon, so the winner of the match, and also moving onto the semi-finals, is Ash Ketchum!"

With a huge roar of applause, everyone in the stadium stood up from their seats, screaming their praise. The trainer felt like he was floating on air as he basked in their chanting and cheering. Not only had he made it to the semi-finals of The Master League, but he had beaten the same person who not but a few years ago defeated him in the Silver Conference.

Perhaps Ash had a chance of winning after all. Perhaps he _was_ good enough to beat Damian, should both of them make it to the finals. That was something to worry about later though, because now was a time to celebrate. Now was a time to just be happy.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this rather long chapter. Next up we'll be having some more story oriented stuff happening. As well as some character development I've been wanting to get to for quite a while.

I can't give you a definite on when the next chapter will be finished. However, I think it's safe to say it will not be as long a wait as it was for this chapter.

Till then,

See ya!


	33. Surprise Attack

Okay, so this chapter was going to be considerably longer, but I don't like to post chapters that are twenty pages long. So instead I cut it off at about the halfway point.

So yes, this means there will be another chapter VERY soon... Like tomorrow or later tonight soon.

With that said, this chapter has a lot of scene breaks, but that's because a lot is happening, if it's too sporadic, I'm very sorry.

Well enough of me talking.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Go Chase!" Ash screamed from the stands, watching the battle ensue below. It was the first time he had seen the trainer battle, despite having promised to watch him the day prior when he and Misty met him in the casino. He was indeed quite an able battler. He never missed a beat when it came to coming up with a counter for his opponent's attacks, and his Pokémon always seemed to be on sync with him. It was quite a site actually. His Pokémon's movements were always fluid, perfect form, perfect delivery, and perfect execution. Even Drew took a moment to praise him and his Pokémon.

His Sceptile then went in for a night slash with perfect form, taking down his opponent's Hypno with ease. After taking a moment to observe Hypno, the referee called for the end of the match. It had been pretty one-sided match overall, though Chase did have a few close calls near the beginning.

With the final battle of the day drawing to a close, that left only Ash, Chase, Paul, and Damian. Ash couldn't help but snicker as he thought back to what Paul said to him right before his first match of the tournament. It seemed that the purple haired trainer would indeed be getting the rematch he had been so craving since their battle in the quarterfinals of the Lily of The Valley Conference back in Sinnoh.

"So guys," Ash spoke as he got up from his seat and started to stretch. "Who's up for a bite to eat?"

"Sounds good to me." His girlfriend replied. "I've been starving for almost an hour."

"You guys have fun." May added. "Me and Drew here have plans already." She said, gently nudging him with her elbow, only to be met by him rolling his eyes.

"Alright." Ash nodded. "Well I guess we should get going before the restaurants get packed."

"Yeah, probably. Misty said as she got up from her seat, and began to follow closely behind Ash.

XXXXXXXXXX

Going to get a simple bite to eat proved to be a bit more of a challenge than either of the two teens initially thought. With all of the spectators leaving Zerra Stadium, many of them also began heading towards the restaurants and diners in the surrounding area as well.

Not just that, but Ash had become a bit of a celebrity over the past few days, and had attracted quite a bit of attention from everyone in the pizza place him and Misty decided stop at. Initially he was met by a wave of screaming fangirls that was so large, it would have made a young Gary Oak jealous. After Misty threw every single one of them off of her boyfriend, Ash was then greeted by much more civil fans. Most of them were young and aspiring trainers, while the others were parents who wanted to get autographs for their kids.

Though Ash was more than happy to oblige, Misty couldn't help but voice her disdain. "Ash," she nudged. "maybe we should go somewhere a little more…. private?"

The black haired trainer paused for a second to look over at her. Her expression said it all. Her eyes were shimmering ever so slightly, and her face was just a hint pouty, just enough to make her look that much more adorable.

"Yeah." Ash replied before standing on his tiptoes to peer over everyone around him and catch the attention of the people working behind the counter. "Hey, could I get a box of pizza to go?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Damian kicked open the door to his cabin, and stepped inside. As the door shut itself behind him, he slid himself out of his trench coat, revealing a series of scars lining along his arms. Once the jacket was off, he looked down at the scarred and battered flesh. They were one of the many constant reminders of how he became himself, how he realized that power truly was the path to victory. Yet at times, these scars reminded him of his age of innocence, before he was met with the cruel realization that life wasn't as great as the way fairytales made it out to be.

After making a deep sigh, he made his way into the bathroom and flipped the switch to the light over the mirror, allowing for him to get a good view of his own face. He frowned at what he saw, as he did every time he looked in the mirror. His dark, sunken in eyes, paired with his scraggly white hair, and constant scowl gave him the appearance of something that might be found in children's nightmares.

He turned on the sink, dunking his hands under the water and then washing his face. After wiping away the dirt and grime he had accumulated on the battlefield, he took another look at himself in the mirror. Even though the filth on his face was gone, he still looked more or less the same. "I look absolutely horrifying." He murmured to himself before cracking a sly grin. "Good."

Damian pulled off his pitch black shirt and tossed it to the side, revealing even more scars littered across his body. They were long and gnashing, much like the ones on his arms. After taking a moment to look over of his body, he felt a burning rage boil in his stomach. Every time he dared look at the marks of his past, he always started getting these feelings. Was it rage for his foolishness as a child? Or was it rage for his disdain for the cold, dark truths of the world?

All of these thoughts instantly exited his mind when his fist shattered the mirror into hundreds of little glass shards.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash and Misty sat on the porch of their cabin, looking up at the starry sky as they each took a bite of their pizza. It was quite a peaceful; being able to hear the sound of the waves crash against the sandy beach, while the calm ocean breeze gently blew onto their skin.

This was the most at ease Ash had felt since the tournament had started. Paul was his next opponent, and though he was certain that Paul would be much more of a challenge than he was at the Lily of The Valley Conference, he still had that one-up on him from Sinnoh, the finals were just in reach, and he was getting to spend quality time with Misty. What more could he ask for?

"I'm so close, Misty." He smiled, putting his pizza slice back in the box and laying down on the deck, resting his hands behind his head. "I really might win this."

The gym leader warmly smiled, putting her slice back in the box as well before leaning down and kissing him on the cheek. "I know you can win this."

"You really think so?"

"Of course I do, silly." She said playfully as she laid down next to him, resting her hands behind her head as well. "You may be hard headed, stubborn, and a bit dim at times, but you're probably the best Pokémon trainer I know."

"That's really sweet of you to say, Misty." Ash replied.

"Well don't get used to it." She said rather snootily. "And don't let it go to your head either, understand?"

Ash had to laugh. "As long as you don't let this go to _your_ head."

Misty rolled over to her side, resting her head in her hand. "Don't let what go to my head?"

The trainer from Pallet rolled over as well, facing his girlfriend, their noses merely inches away from each other. "Misty, you may be short-tempered, impatient, and sometimes downright mean, but you're without a doubt the smartest, and most beautiful girl I've ever met, and to top that off, I've never met anyone who is as good with water Pokémon as you."

"Aww, Ash!" Misty's aqua green eyes began to well up a little bit. It looked like she was actually about to start shedding tears because of Ash's comment. However, any chance of that happening quickly vanished when her expression returned to normal, and she pinched Ash on the tip of his nose. "That was really cheesy." The black haired trainer began to frown, a bit put down by her statement. "But sometimes sweet and cheesy can be the same thing." She added before giving him a soft kiss on the forehead.

Ash's frown quickly transformed into a smile, happy to see that his sincere words actually did mean something to her. The two kept their eyes locked for a moment, neither one averting their gaze from the other. After a brief moment of silence between the two, their lips began to gravitate towards each other, slowly making contact.

As their lips locked, Ash placed a hand behind Misty's head, running his fingers through her long, silky, red hair. Slowly, Misty began to give into the kiss, and fell onto her back, letting Ash lean over her as they exchanged in a deep kiss.

The sounds of the ocean waves were all the two could hear, as the rest of the world had become drowned out to them. Their kiss went on for what seemed like a short eternity, though both of them were completely fine with that. As Misty began to run her hands along Ash's back, he pulled himself closer to her, taking her into a loving embrace as he wrapped his arms around her.

Slowly, the two's kiss came to a mutual end as both of them pulled away from each other, but kept their faces merely inches away from one another. "Misty," Ash whispered.

"Yeah, Ash?" She whispered back.

"I've been thinking a lot about this since we first kissed back in Sunnyport, and…" He paused for a second, having to gather up the courage to push the words his heart was trying to say out of his mouth.

"Go on Ash,." Misty replied reassuringly, her eyes looking into his lovingly as she wrapped her hands around the back of his head, gently taking in a handful of his messy black hair.

"I just wanted to tell you that… I lo…"

"Ash." A male voice interjected.

The young trainer cursed under his breath, Misty had to fight the urge to do the same. Slightly irked by the untimely interruption, Ash turned around to see Paul standing before him and Misty. His expression seemed to be more intense than usual, it must have been something serious.

"Yeah?" He replied, trying to hide his annoyance.

"Walk with me for a bit." He said, waving his hand towards himself.

At first Ash was a bit perplexed by his request. It wasn't like Paul to ask him to come and talk to him. Something was incredibly off, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. The trainer looked over at Misty, who had returned to eating her slice of pizza, and was also still trying to hide her irritation with Paul's impeccable timing.

"I..I'll be right back, okay Misty?"

"Okay." She replied rather indifferently.

Letting out a sigh, Ash pulled himself up and began walking towards Paul. "This better be important." Ash mumbled to himself just loud enough for only him and Misty to hear it. The trainer couldn't help but feel a little bit better when he could hear Misty smirk at his comment.

"What is it, Paul?" He asked his rival from Sinnoh as the started to trek across the beach.

Paul looked over at the trainer from Pallet, his expression was still locked in the same scowl he always seemed to have. "Just follow me."

At first, Ash was a bit apprehensive. Paul wasn't the type of person to pull him to the side, nor was he the type of person to ask him to follow him somewhere. Pikachu was still going to be in the Pokémon Center for the rest of the night, so his buddy wouldn't be there to help him if for whatever reason this turned out to be a trap of some sort. However, Ash was able to find a bit of comfort when he reached down to his belt and could feel that Charizard's Poké Ball was still strapped to his side. If anything were to go wrong, at least he'd be there to help.

Cautiously, Ash followed closely behind Paul, following him off of the beach and onto the sidewalk. "Where are we going?" He asked, unable to stand Paul's silence.

"Somewhere away from everyone else." He said plainly.

The black haired trainer could feel a pit rise in his stomach. Paul was never known to pull dirty tricks, but Ash certainly wouldn't put it past him, especially when given their history. Against his better judgment though, he continued to follow Paul, but kept his hand rested on Charizard's Poké Ball.

"It's just up this elevator." Paul spoke as he pointed towards a glass elevator that went up the side of a tall spire-like tower.

Ash felt a bit relieved that it was a glass elevator they were stepping into. If Paul were to try something, he'd have to do it in front of a street full of people. With that in mind, Ash was able to allow himself to follow the trainer through the elevator door.

Paul pressed the button leading to the sky deck at the top of the tower. Once the doors shut, the speakers in the glass box made a chime just before the elevator began to ascend up the tower. As it rose, Ash couldn't help but take his time to notice the incredible view of the streets he had from the there. The neon lights that lined along the sides of the buildings down below created a collogue of colors and images, like glowing graffiti.

After coming to an abrupt stop at the sky deck, the elevator chimed again, followed by its doors opening up to reveal the empty overlook. Paul stepped out, Ash following him. Before stepping out of the elevator though, he peered around the corners to make sure that there wasn't a group of people waiting for him. There wasn't of course, but Ash had had this undying feeling of paranoia ever since Paul asked to talk to him.

"I don't think we can get more away from everyone else than here." Ash said with an insincere laugh, trying to ease the tension brought on by Paul's ominous silence.

"Yeah." He replied, walking up to the railing and looking down at the streets below.

"So…" Ash spoke, walking up to the railings as well. "What did you need to talk about?"

Paul took a deep breath. His expression looked like he was almost in pain, or at the very least uncomfortable. "I just wanted to say that…. Ever since our battle in Sinnoh, I've been doing a lot of thinking."

"Thinking about what?" He asked, removing his hand from Charizard's Poké Ball.

"I used to think that Pokémon were just a means to an end. That Pokémon were just a form of power, and that power would make me the champion. And if they didn't have power, then they were just worthless to me." He paused to take a breath. "Then after you beat me in Sinnoh, I could see how you and your Pokémon interacted, how you had this undying connection that always gave them the ability to push through, even when all odds were against them." He leaned away from the railing, and turned back to Ash. "Since then, I've taken your advice, and tried to befriend my Pokémon… And I can't help but say that you were right. Pokémon aren't about power, they're about that indescribable bond between trainer and Pokémon."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "You've changed a lot, Paul."

"Yeah." He replied, leaning back against the rail. "So I just wanted to say…. Thank you for showing me that."

"It's not a problem." He laughed. "I just can't believe you brought me all the way up here just to tell me that."

"Well," He started. "I also wanted to wish you good luck on your match tomorrow." The purple haired trainer turned to his rival and cracked a very faint grin.

Ash returned the grin, giving him a slight nod. "Good luck on yours too."

After that, the two returned to looking down at the streets, and all the tiny people walking along them. After a brief moment of silence between the two, Paul finally spoke up again. "So…" He started. "How's Dawn doing?"

"She's good." He replied. "She's in Johto right now, doing some contests there."

"Hmm…" Paul silently looked down at the street, tapping his fingers against the metal railing. "Maybe I'll stop by and see her on the way back to Sinnoh."

Ash couldn't help but give Paul a bit of an inquisitive stare, though he didn't seem to notice it. "Any reason why? I mean, that's kinda out of the way, isn't it?"

"Well…." Paul stopped speaking, and raised his head up, looking of towards the dark horizon. "What's that?"

Ash directed his gaze towards the outskirts of the city, squinting his eyes so he could get a better view. It seemed that some sort of large object was pushing its way through the clouds. It was long and metallic in appearance, and alongside it were three other smaller floating objects acting as its escort.

"Oh no…" Ash gasped, reaching for Charizard's Poké Ball.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Go! Go! Go! Go!" Domino shouted as the Rocket grunts leapt out of the aircraft, opening up their parachutes shortly thereafter. "Catch all the Pokémon you can, and if you come across that Ketchum kid, or his redheaded girlfriend, bring them to me!"

"No!" A young blonde shouted, stepping up next to Domino. "If you find Ketchum, tell me first!"

Domino looked over at Zak, trying to hide her smirk. "Of course, Zak. After all, _you_ are the one leading this operation, aren't you?"

"You better believe I am!" He exclaimed proudly.

"Good." The blonde Rocket officer replied, resting her hand on his shoulder. "Then get down there and lead your squad!"

"Yes ma'am!" He shouted excitedly, leaping out from the airship with his parachute strapped to his back.

Domino smirked as she watched him descend towards the city, popping open his parachute about halfway down, revealing a black chute with a red "R" printed across it. After seeing his chute open, she tapped one of the agents working in the operation on the shoulder, getting his attention.

"Yes, Officer?" He responded, strapping on his parachute.

"Make sure that blonde brat doesn't get back on the airship." She whispered into his ear. "He is our cover-up after all."

"Yes ma'am."

XXXXXXXXXX

Charizard soared down the tower with Ash and Paul on his back. The orange dragon screamed across the streets as he used the updraft to pick up speed when he leveled out just a couple meters above the ground. As the fire type roared across the air, Paul tightly clenched onto Ash's jacket, not used to flying on the backs of Pokémon, especially at extreme speeds like this.

"Where are we going?!" Paul shouted over the wind.

"To the Pokémon Center!" He shouted back. "Knowing Team Rocket, they'll strike there first!"

"Good thinking!" Paul replied, keeping his hands tightly clenched onto Ash's jacket, terrified that he was about to be ripped off of the Pokémon's back just by the sheer force of the wind.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I'm sorry, but if you want to steal this poor Pokémon, then you're out of luck!" Nurse Joy barked, her Chancey standing at her side.

"Look lady," One of the two grunts grumbled. "ya betta move, or we's gonna have to tears this place apart."

"Not a chance!" She said sternly, holding her ground.

"If you say so, lady." The grunt growled. "Go Raticate!"

The second grunt sent out his Raticate too, putting Nurse Joy's Chancey at a two-on-one disadvantage. Neither Nurse Joy nor Chancey seemed to be fazed by this though. The big, pink, egg Pokémon continued to stand strong between the grunts and Nurse Joy, while Nurse Joy kept her arms stretched out, not allowing for the grunts to pass by her.

"Chancey, use take down!" Before the two grunts or their Raticates could do anything, Chancey took hold of one of the Raticates by the tail, and flung it into the other, sending both of them flying across the Pokémon Center.

"Whoa!" One of the grunts exclaimed.

"Now Chancey, show these two bullies what happens when you try to steal Pokémon!" The big, round, pink Pokémon gripped both of the grunts by their collars with one hand, and then began to use her free hand to slap both of them across the face repeatedly with her doubleslap attack. Once the two attackers had had enough, Chancey flung them down to the ground, and left them on the floor to be picked up by the authorities once they started clearing everything out.

Just then, a Charizard landed hard on the ground just outside of the Pokémon Center, causing a faint tremor to shake the building. Nurse Joy and Chancey began to take a stance, ready to combat against anyone else who dared to try to steal the Pokémon under her care. Once she saw the two teenagers get off of the fire type's back though, both her and Chancey quickly eased themselves, seeing that they obviously weren't a part of Team Rocket.

"We're here to help!" Ash exclaimed, kicking open the door, Paul following closely behind him.

"Thank you very much, young man." Joy replied with a cheery smile. "But me and Chancey here have everything under control."

Ash and Paul both took a moment to look at the two grunts that were laid out on the floor, as well as the two Raticates that were rendered unconscious across the room. "Wow." Ash awed. "You weren't kidding."

"Pika?" A cry came from the back.

All four of them turned their heads towards the backroom of the Pokémon Center as the sound of pitter-pattering filled their ears. Out from the corridor, Ash's Pikachu ran out, completely patched up, and seemingly ready for battle.

"Pikachu!" The black haired trainer exclaimed, running up to his Pokémon and taking him into his arms. "I'm glad to see you're okay!"

"Pika!" He cheerily squeaked as he began to lick his master's cheek.

"Your Pikachu should be ready for battle." Nurse Joy said as the two bonded. "But I would suggest if you take him with you, to be _very_ careful."

"Well," Ash spoke. "I think that's up to Pikachu. Are you ready to help stop Team Rocket?"

"Pikachu!" He quickly responded.

"Looks like he's ready to go!"

"Just please be careful." Joy uttered. "It's dangerous out there."

"Don't worry," Paul said. "we'll be fine. Just keep the Pokémon here safe."

Nurse Joy and Chancey both gave the two teens a nod before they took off and headed outside, taking to the streets that had practically become a battleground at this point. "Come back safe!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Misty dashed down the streets of Corsola Beach. Ever since she heard the first sound of an explosion, somehow she just _knew_ that Team Rocket had something to do with it. Unfortunately it couldn't be the trio of incompetence. This time it was _the_ Team Rocket, the same Team Rocket her and Ash encountered back in Chester Town.

Once she was able to get a good view of the chaos and destruction Team Rocket was leaving in its wake, all that went through Misty's head were horrible thoughts about what might've happened to Ash amidst the chaos. Fires were starting to rage across the streets, people were fleeing in terror, and Team Rocket grunts littered the streets like cockroaches.

She wanted to find Ash, make sure he was okay, make sure nothing bad had happened to him. But there were far more pressing matters at the moment. Ash could take care of himself, but many of these defenseless civilians couldn't.

"Azumarill, Golduck, Starmie go!" She tossed their Poké Balls onto the street, freeing the three water types. "Azumarill, Starmie, these fires need to be put out! Golduck, keep Team Rocket back long enough for these people to get out of here!"

"Azu-Marill!"

"Golduck!"

"Heya!"

All three of them went on to fulfill their respective tasks, letting Misty help any of the civilians having trouble escaping.

"Help me!" A young, shrilly voice shrieked. Misty turned to see a little fair-haired girl trapped inside a turned over car. Not wasting a second, she darted over to the car, and tried to rip the door open. She gave the door one big pull, using all of her strength to yank on the crumpled up door.

It remained sealed shut, however. It seemed that no matter how hard she pulled, it just wouldn't budge under all of the weight pushing down on it. She tried to kick the window open, but all that did was cause her to stub her toe.

"Don't worry!" The gym leader shouted. "I'll get you out of there, I promise!" Misty continued to kick into the window, making loud thuds each time her tennis shoes smashed against the glass, but failed to even do so much as crack it.

"Stand back, Misty!" Another girl shouted.

The redhead could feel a large hand gently push her to the side. She looked over and saw a giant, blue, tortoise-like Pokémon moving her aside, while it took hold of the car door.

"Blastoise?" She murmured. She directed her eyes towards the Pokémon's trainer and saw one of the last people she was expecting to see in the middle of this mess. "Serenity?"

"I saw you were trying to help out, and I couldn't just stand by and watch." She replied.

With a loud clang and tear, Blastoise ripped the door off of the car, allowing for the little girl to crawl out from inside. Once she was free, Misty quickly ran up to the child and took her in her arms, trying to comfort the frightened girl.

Off in the distance, she could hear another loud bang, followed by a tremor. A sudden heaviness filled her heart when she felt the ground shake below her feet. What if Ash was in the middle of that explosion? What if he was one of the many victims to be hurt… Or even worse, killed by Team Rocket?

After quickly looking around the street, it seemed that the civilians had cleared out, and Azumarill and Starmie had done a good job containing the fires. Now that her job here was done, she could go find Ash, and pray that she wouldn't be too late.

XXXXXXXXXX

"This isn't good!" Ash growled, pushing his back against Paul's.

"You're telling me." He replied.

The two were completely surrounded by at least twelve Team Rocket grunts, as well as their Pokémon. Ash and Paul were pushed back-to-back, with Pikachu standing in front of Ash, and Electivire standing in front of Paul. Their powerful surges of electricity kept their attackers at bay, but keeping them at bay and stopping them were two different things entirely.

"Got any ideas?" Paul asked, carefully watching for if any of the Rocket's Pokémon were going to try to do something sneaky.

"I've got one." Ash answered. Though he was a bit unsure if this would work, it wasn't like failure was much of an option for them. "Have your Electivire throw Pikachu up in the air!"

"What?"

"Just do it!"

Paul took a deep breath, unsure of where Ash was going with this, but given their current predicament, he wasn't given much of a choice. "Alright, fine. Eletivire, pick up Pikachu and throw him up in the air!"

Unsure of why his master would ask this of him, the Pokémon followed his orders, regardless. He ran over to the rodent and lifted it up in the air, then with one great big toss, he flung the little rodent high up into the air, about thirty feet above them.

"Now Pikachu, use thunder wave!" With a huge discharge, Pikachu unleashed a series of electric waves from his cheek pouches, causing them to arc downward in a wide radius, zapping every single person and Pokémon below him, with the exception of Ash, Paul, and his Electivire.

As the arcs of electricity coursed through their bodies, all of the grunts and their Pokémon began to crumble to the ground, unable to move do to the paralysis inflicted by Pikachu's thunder wave.

"Huh." Paul huffed. "It actually worked."

"Don't get too excited!" A snarky voice shouted from afar. Paul and Ash turned towards the source of the voice, and saw a single blonde haired teenager who looked to be about their age. Ash couldn't help but clench his fist upon seeing who it was.

"Zak." The trainer growled. "Of course _you_ would join Team Rocket!"

"You know him?" Paul whispered.

"Let's just say he's a sore loser." Ash replied.

"Do you want me to help?"

He shook his head. "No, me and Pikachu can handle this."

"Whatever you say. The purple haired trainer said dismissively, standing off to the side with Electivire.

Seeing that it was just down to him and Ash, Zak cracked an evil grin, reaching for one of his Poké Balls. "I've been waiting for this for months now!" He exclaimed. "Just a few months in Team Rocket, and I'm already nearly an officer! All I have to do is bring you in!"

Ash cocked an eyebrow, slightly puzzled. "Bring me in?"

"Yeah, you did must've done something to really upset Team Rocket. They even made you the first priority for the mission!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Just shut up and you'll find out!" Zak snarled, pulling a Poké Ball from his belt. Just as he was about to toss the red and white sphere, he was stopped when he heard someone behind him call his name.

"Agent Zak." A gruff voice called.

Zak peered over his shoulder and saw four more grunts and an agent standing behind him. "Don't worry, boys." He snickered. "I've got this one under control."

"I'm sure you do." The agent replied, showing no form of any emotion whatsoever. "Masks on, everybody."

"Huh?" Zak tilted his head to the side, throwing a puzzled look at his fellow Rockets. "What are you…" The five black clad criminals all pulled out gas masks from the pouches on their pants, and strapped them to their faces. "What's going on?!" Zak began to panic. At no time had Domino covered something like this with him, nor had he even been provided with a gas mask like the one the other Rockets were wearing.

"Venomoths," The agent called, pointing towards Ash, Paul, and Zak. "sleep powder!" A flock of Venomoths soared out from behind the group, and glided over the three trainers and their Pokémon, catching all of them off guard as they dumped huge amounts of yellow powder from their wings.

"Ash!" Paul shouted. "We've got to get…" As the small yellow pollen entered his nostrils, the trainer from Sinnoh began to feel a heaviness in his eyes. His body was beginning to grow weary, and his consciousness began to slip away from him. "out of here." He groaned before him and his Electivire fell forward, completely passed out.

Ash tried to fight the urge to lose consciousness, but as he watched everyone around him fall down one by one, he just couldn't fight against it any longer. Paul and Electivire were the first to go, followed by Pikachu, Zak was the last to fall before him. Though Ash's vision had begun to blacken at that point, he was able to catch a glimpse of Zak's expression. It was a fusion between confusion, and anger, but more so the former.

Trying to hold onto his consciousness with every last bit of his strength, Ash fell to his knees, unable to stand any longer. "What's….going….o…" He fell forward, slumped face first into the ground. Though his eyes had closed, he was still able to hear the faint sound of feet rustling around him, as well as some ambient chatter, followed by nothingness.

* * *

(In the same voice as the narrator from Pokémon) Oh no! It looks like things aren't going well for Ash! What will he do? What does Team Rocket want to do with him? Will Misty be able to save him before its too late? We'll just have to wait and see on the next episode of Pokémon!


	34. Misty To The Rescue

I could make up some sort of reason as to why it took me so long to get this chapter up, but the honest to God excuse is that I discovered the Metroid games over this past week... That's all I have to say about that.

Anyways, this chapter gets kinda darkish, but not too dark. And if you don't like dark chapters, you can rest easy in knowing that this will be the last one for quite a while, because this will be the last time we see Team Rocket in this... Wait... I may have spoken too soon... I'll give you more information at the end of the chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Wake up."

Ash's eyes slowly opened, only to be met by darkness. Wearily, he looked around the shrouded room, trying to gauge his current situation. He found himself sitting on a metal chair, alone. Instinctively, he tried to move his arms, but found that they were bounded by chains.

"You have information we want." A voice echoed from behind the veil of shadows. The voice was deep and distorted, almost digitalized. Whoever it was speaking to him was obviously using some sort of voice changer.

As his eyes started to adjust to the darkness that surrounded him, he began to get a clear view of the room he was in. Directly in front of him was a mirror, and above that a speaker, which the voice seemed to be coming from. To his left was a rack filled with surgical tools, and directly to his right was the door.

He had to gulp at the very thought of why those tools were on the rack. Where they going to torture him? Where they just trying to scare him? He didn't know, but he didn't want to stick around to find out.

Trying to make a quick escape, the trainer looked down at his belt, hoping to see Charizard's Poké Ball at his side. Not entirely to his surprise, it was gone. "Where's Charizard! And Pikachu!" He shouted instinctively, worried about the condition of his Pokémon.

"Rest easy, Ketchum." The voice replied. "We left your little rodent behind in the city. As for your Charizard… Let's just say he's in safe hands at the moment."

A fire of rage surged through Ash's body. "Where is he?!"

"He's close by." The voice said in a dead tone. "He will also remain completely unharmed, so long as you cooperate."

Taking a deep breath, Ash tried to calm himself, seeing that he didn't have much choice in the matter. "What do you want?" He sighed, slouching his head down, and slumping forward in his chair. He felt completely and utterly defeated. Never before had he ever felt so submissive. It was a feeling that was completely alien to him, and also one that he wished to never experience.

"Does the location of Mount Quena mean anything to you, Ketchum?"

"_Domino?"_ Ash went completely wide-eyed. Who else could it be? Between her being at Mount Quena as well, and the recent incident at Chester Town, it just seemed all too coincidental. "Why do you want to know?"

"I am the one asking questions." The voice said coldly. "Answer the question."

Lowering his head in defeat once more, Ash gave in. He knew what information they were fishing for, and if he didn't respond, he knew that they would hurt, or even kill Charizard. The only thing he could do was bide time and hope for a rescue. It was a fool's hope, but it was the only hope he had.

"Yeah," He mumbled. "It means something to me."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Pikachu!" Misty cried, shaking the little, yellow Pokémon again and again until its eyelids started to flutter. "Where's Ash?!"

"Pika pi?" The mouse slowly started to look around, trying to capture a grasp on what was going on around him. The last thing the Pokémon could remember was Zak appearing, and then yellow dust, and after that it was all just a haze.

When he saw that his master was no longer with him though, he quickly sprung into action. He leapt out of Misty's arms and perked up his ears, looking all around for his trainer, only to find that he was nowhere to be found.

"Pika…" He whimpered.

"You don't know where he is, do you?" The redhead asked, her heart growing heavy.

Pikachu could do nothing but shake his head as he sorrowfully looked down at the ground.

"Oh no…"

"What happened?" Paul grumbled, pulling himself up from the ground.

Serenity and Misty both looked over at the purple haired trainer, and ran to his aid. Once he had gotten back onto his feet, the two girls started to quiz Paul on any and all information about where Ash was, but his answers were always the same.

"I don't know."

"You have to know!" Misty yelled, her temper beginning to seep through. "You were right here with him!"

"Misty," Serenity spoke, showing a much calmer side that she had never revealed to the redhead before. "I'm sure he's fi-"

"No!" She shrieked. "Ash would never leave Pikachu behind! He must've been kidnapped!"

"H…h…he _was_ kidnapped." Zak growled, still dreary from the effects of the sleep powder.

All three of them turned to face the struggling Rocket agent, Misty's face fuming with anger. He was the last person she was expecting to see, yet somehow wasn't the least bit surprised. "Well where did they take him?!" The gym leader snarled, running up to the weakened trainer and lifting him up by his collar.

"Give me one good reason why I should tell you?"

"Because if ya don't, I'll beat ya to a pulp." The voice wasn't Misty's. It came from a gruff man approaching the group.

Misty narrowed her eyes slightly, recognizing the face. It was the same man with the Chikorita that her and Ash met at the diner right before his match with A.J.. "Silver?"

"Let him go, Misty." His tone was stern and harsh, but his anger wasn't directed at her.

Quickly complying, the redhead let go of Zak's collar, only for Silver to grab him by the throat, and lift him up off the ground. "Where is he?!" He roared. The Chikorita sitting on his shoulder seemed to share the same anger as his master, made quite apparent by his red eyes that locked onto Zak with furious intent.

"T…t..they took him….onto the airship." Zak uttered, trying to force air through his trachea.

"Where's the airship now?!"

"I…don't…know."

"Whaddya mean you don't know?!" Misty snarled, causing Zak to momentarily turn his attention to the Cerulean City Gym Leader.

"Because it's camouflaged." Another voice entered in on the conversation, answering for Zak.

Silver loosened his grip on the Rocket agent, dropping him to the hard ground as he, Misty, Serenity, Paul, and Pikachu all reared their heads to face the source of the voice.

"You've got to be kidding me." Misty mumbled.

Jessie, James, and Meowth stood silent before the them. They weren't wearing their uniforms, nor had they started going about their overlong introduction. They just stood their, their hands either in their pockets, or scratching the back of their heads out of feelings of awkwardness.

"What are you two doing here?!" The redhead snapped. "Are you the ones who did this?!"

"No! No! No! No!" All three of them quickly replied, waiving their hands in hopes that the four trainers wouldn't sick their Pokémon on them and send them blasting off into the next town over.

"We don't work for Team Rocket anymore!" James explained. "They fired us!"

Misty cocked an eyebrow, unsure of what exactly was going on. "What do you mean they fired you?"

"We don't have time for dat right now!" Meowth hurriedly replied. "Let's just say dat we still ain't your friends, but Team Rocket ain't friends of ours neitha. So if you want to getcha little boyfriend back, you'll have to listen to us!"

"And why should we trust yo-" Misty silenced herself the second she felt Silver's large hand rest on her shoulder.

"Hold on just a second, Misty." He murmured.

"But they're…"

"I know who these folks are." He cut her off once again. "But they're our only hope of gettin' Ash back." He explained before turning his attention back to the former members of Team Rocket. "Go on."

Jessie started to clear her throat. "That ship they came in on has stealth camouflage." She explained. "But the generator for it is so loud that if you get close enough, you should be able to find the ship without a problem."

"How do you know this?" Misty asked, still very skeptical about the trio's sudden willingness to help.

"It's one of The Bos… I mean Giovanni's newest ships. Everyone who's in Team Rocket has heard about it."

"I…I didn't know it had stealth." Zak coughed, pulling himself back onto his feet.

Misty's eyes shot towards the blonde as he got back up. She didn't know where this sudden urge came from, nor did she have any control over the action, but with enough force to rival a Hitmonchan, she delivered a hard right hook into his face, knocking Zak flat onto his back.

"Shut up, Zak!" Misty uncurled his fist, and looked around at all the others standing around her. Every single one of them stared at her on complete shock, save for Silver, who just smirked. "Anyways…" She started. "None of us have flying Pokémon, so how are we supposed to get to the ship?"

"Not a problem, Misty." Silver replied, pulling out a Poké Ball. "We've got Salamence." The older trainer tossed the Poké Ball, freeing the large blue and red dragon, bellowing out a roar and flapping his great wings.

"Okay." Paul spoke. "Salamence can get you there, but how will you find that airship if you can't see it?"

"I can take care of that." Misty grinned. "Azumarill, I choose you!" The little water rabbit began to hop around, looking up at her trainer as she patiently awaited to hear her orders. "Azumarill, I want for you to listen for the airship's generator. Can you do that?"

"Azu marill!" She chirped, perking her long ears up and tuning them in to the sound of Team Rocket's airship. After a brief moment of listening in, Azumarill's ears stiffened, and zeroed in on the sound and location of the airship. "Azumarill! Azumarill!" She cried to signify that she had found the location of Team Rocket's airship..

"Alright." Silver nodded. "Misty," he called to her. "you, Azumarill and Pikachu hop onto Salamence." He turned to face Paul and Serenity. "And you two make sure the city is cleared up of all those Team Rocket grunts."

"Yeah."

"Got it."

The two trainers and their Pokémon climbed onto Salamence's back, while the other two trainers darted off towards the inner city, leaving behind Jessie, James Meowth, and Zak. Once Salamence's wings started to flap, the dragon began to very slowly lift himself into the air, not used to carrying around so much weight. Though it took him no time to properly adjust.

"Hey Team Ro.. I mean, Jessie, James, Meowth!" Misty called, catching their attention. "…Thanks."

The trio just looked up and shrugged, Jessie throwing a meaningless hand gesture in the redhead's direction. "Don't get used to it. Just because we're helping you doesn't mean we're good guys now. We just want Team Rocket to get what's coming to them."

Misty nodded before clenching onto Silver's brown trench coat, keeping Pikachu and Azumarill tightly pressed between her arms. "Don't worry, Team Rocket will definitely get what's coming to em'!" She said just before Silver's Salamence began to rip across the sky an near breakneck speeds, vanishing into the darkness of the night sky.

"Hey." Meowth muttered. "Is that the kid who got us fired?" He pointed one of his paws at the dazed and confused teenager laying on his back.

"I think it is." James replied.

At this point, Zak started to take notice that they were talking about him, and tried to lift himself back up for the third time in the past thirty minutes.

"Good." Jessie cracked a sly grin. "I've been wanting to get another shot at this little twerp."

Still slightly out of it, Zak's eyes widened when he saw the scarlet haired woman reach for a Poké Ball, while keeping her eyes fixated on him. "Uh oh."

XXXXXXXXXX

"What are you hiding?"

"For the last time, I'm not hiding anything!" Ash shouted. "I told you _everything_ I know about what happened at Mount Quena!"

"You are aware that your Charizard's life is at stake here? Are you not?"

The black haired trainer felt a tinge in his heart. All those years ago, he promised Mewtwo that all the secrets of Mount Quena would remain between him, Brock, and Misty. Within the past half an hour though, he'd broken that promise time and time again. However, there was still one secret from Mount Quena that he hadn't given up yet. But the life of one of his best friends was at stake, one of his original six. Was putting his life in danger really worth giving away the one last secret he had yet to tell?

"If you do not comply within the next ten seconds, Charizard will be exterminated."

"No please don't!"

"Ten."

They wouldn't _really_ kill Charizard, would they?

"Nine."

They must've been bluffing. They already obtained all the information they needed out of him, they were just prying to see if there was any more.

"Eight."

What if they weren't bluffing though? What if they really would kill Charizard?

"Seven."

Maybe he could tell a lie, but what would he tell them?

"Six."

But wait, what was this strapped to his chest?

"Five."

Wires? Was it connected to some sort of lie detector?

"Four."

They knew he was lying when he said there was nothing else he knew! That must've meant they really were planning on killing Charizard if he refused to talk.

"Three."

Was the value of his Pokémon's life truly worth that of numerous others?

"Two."

It may have been selfish, but Ash was given no other way around it.

"One."

"Alright, I'll talk!"

The room went into dead silence for a moment, Ash's heart racing like a Rapidash. As his breathing started to slow down, as well as his heart rate, the voice came back on.

"Go on."

"Before I talk, is Charizard okay?" He just had to make sure.

"Your Charizard is perfectly fine."

"Okay." He replied, taking in a few deep breaths of relief. "There were clone Pokémon that stayed behind at Mount Quena. Mewtwo left them inside of the caverns of the mountain so they would be safe from people like you."

There was another moment of silence. It lasted much longer than the previous ones though. Something about this silence was ominous, threatening, nearly bone chilling. Then, like all of the previous moments of silence, the silence was broken.

"That is all the information we needed. Thank you for your cooperation."

"Now give me my Charizard back!"

"I'm sorry, but we can't do that."

A chill filled Ash's heart. "What do you mean you can't do that?!"

"Your Charizard is remarkably powerful, and as such would be of great value to Team Rocket. Also, I never said you'd get your Charizard back, now did I?"

"You son of a…."

"As for you…. You will be an unfortunate casualty from the raid."

"W..w..what?" The trainer had to take a moment to process what had been said to him. Were they threatening to kill him? Had he just spilled his guts in the desperate hopes of escaping alive, just to find out that regardless of what he had done, his life would end right here?

"Goodbye, Mr. Ketchum. Your information has been of a great service to…" The voice was cut off as a loud, violent rumble shook the room, causing Ash to nearly fall off of his chair, only being kept on by the chains tied around his wrists. "Unbelievable." The voice muttered. "It looks like your friends have come to save you. Too bad they won't get to you in time."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Are you sure you can handle this?!" Misty shouted over the roaring winds from the inside of the airship. The hole Salamence had blasted into the side of the hull was large enough for Misty, Pikachu, and Azumarill to leap through, while Silver remained outside on the back of his Pokémon.

"Me, Salamence, and ol' Chikorita here will be just fine!" He replied. "We'll keep Team Rocket distracted while you go find Ash!"

"A..alirght!" She stuttered, still a bit uneasy about him taking on an entire airship by himself. "But Silver, I have a question!"

"Make it quick, the grunts will be here soon!"

"Why are you going so far out of your way to help us? Do you know Ash, or something?" She shouted.

Silver bit down on his lower lip, trying to pick his words carefully. "Let's just say that I know Ash a little better than you might think!" With that, he lightly kicked his heels into Salamence's side, causing the dragon type to pick up speed and begin soaring across the sky, breathing waves of fire against the side of the ship.

Realizing that she had to act fast, Misty took off down the hallway, with Pikachu leading the way by following Ash's scent, and Azumarill following closely behind her trainer. A group of three grunts rounded the corner ahead of her, their Poké Balls already in hand. Instinctively, the redhead ordered for Pikachu to use his thunderbolt attack to stop them in their tracks. The jolting volts of electricity arced across the hall, zapping all three of them, causing all of them let out cries of pain as their bodies twitched and spasmed from the powerful lightning bolt.

With them out of the way, Misty didn't slow down in the least, hopping over their unconscious bodies, and sprinting down the next corridor. She felt the ship begin to rumble, more than likely because of Silver's doing. The minor tremor caused her to nearly lose her footing, and almost sent her tumbling down. Once she regained her balance, Pikachu took a right at the next corridor. He seemed to be picking up speed, perhaps he was getting closer to Ash. She could only hope as much.

"Hey, you!" A voice came from behind her. "Stop!"

"Azumarill, use water gun!" The water type quickly turned around and blasted a high pressured spout of water from her mouth, washing the group of grunts away, and also flooding the hallway. Misty could feel her shoes starting to get wet from the ankle deep water as it began to flood the halls.

Pikachu made a hard pivot to the left at an intersection between hallways, leading Misty and Azumarill straight into yet another group of Team Rocket grunts. Not even taking a moment to think about it, Pikachu began to crackle with electricity as he charged up for a thunderbolt.

"Pikachu, don't!" Misty shrieked, her and Azumarill both well aware of the fact they were all susceptible to being electrocuted due to all of the water around them. It was too late for the Pokémon to hold back his attack though. Thinking fast, Misty looked up and saw a series of pipes running along the ceiling. Though most were out of reach, there was one that hung just low enough that she could grab onto it if she jumped.

Springing off of her feet, the redhead quickly took hold of the pipe, tightening her grasp around it as Azumarill grabbed onto her feet which remained suspended in the air, holding her tail just above the water running along the floor.

The jolt of electricity instantaneously incapacitated the group of grunts blocking their path, but Pikachu's attention was quickly brought to Misty and Azumarill once he realized that he was standing in an electric conductor. To his relief, he sighed once he saw that Misty and Azumarill were hanging down from the pipes above, their feet just dangling inches away from the water.

"Pikachu," Misty said as her and her Pokémon dropped down to the floor. "You've got to hold off on the electric attacks. At least until we get out of this water, okay?"

"Pika!" The mouse replied, his heart still racing from the thought of accidentally electrocuting his friends.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash let out another groan of pain as a Machoke delivered another punch to his gut. The young trainer's cries were quickly shushed after the fighting type threw a hard right hook to his jaw. It had only been five minutes since the Pokémon was sent in to beat him to a bloody pulp, but it felt like it had been hours.

He wanted to just close his eyes and just pass out so he wouldn't have to endure anymore pain, but he knew if he lost consciousness now, he might not wake up. He had to keep fighting through the pain, keep fighting to stay alive.

Somehow he knew that the person behind the speaker was getting a huge kick out of seeing this. Seeing him struggle with every last bit of his willpower as it was slowly beaten away from him. Why else would they have sent in a Machoke? If they wanted to kill him, they could have just sent in a fire type to incinerate him, an electric type to electrocute him until life had slipped away from him. They could have even sent in a ghost type to just simply suck away his lifeforce.

No, this person didn't want him to die quickly. They wanted for him to suffer, to squirm as he fought to continue to live through his last agonizing moments of life. To see him slowly grow closer and closer to the realization that his life was over, and that soon there would be nothing but blackness. The person behind the speaker certainly wasn't Domino. She may have been a rogue, but she was hardly this wicked. Whoever the actual person was that was idly watching him from behind the security camera pointed at him was a monster. That's all there was to it.

Ironically enough, the next punch to the head caused Ash to become even more aware of his surroundings. After taking so many blows to the torso, he had in a way grown numb to the pain, allowing him to slowly lose his grip on consciousness. However, that hard fist to the cranium was enough to shake things up a bit and bring him back to a state of semi-awareness.

"You've got a lot of fight in you, Ketchum." The voice remarked. Though the voice changer made it near impossible to convey any form of tone other than monotone through the speakers, Ash couldn't help but notice that the voice sounded just the slightest bit impressed. "It's a shame you are too noble to join Team Rocket. A trainer as great as you would have been a valuable asset to us."

Then it hit him.

"I'll join Team Rocket!" He shouted, feeling his ribs send a stinging pain through his torso. Had he been standing, he'd have buckled over from the pain.

"Do you take me for a fool?" The voice replied. "Even in the face of death you wouldn't truly swear allegiance to us."

Ash wanted to growl in frustration that they saw through his plan so easily. Perhaps it had come off as a bit of an obvious ruse, but given the circumstances he was in, he didn't exactly have time to think out his plan.

There was no way out at this point. His hands were bound, Pikachu wasn't there, and the only Pokémon he was carrying with him had been stripped away. The only hope he had was to wait it out in hopes that one of his friends would be there to save him before long. He knew that _someone_ had breached the ship, but would they make it to him in time?

Taking another hard hit to the chest, Ash groaned as he felt his breath get knocked out of him, causing his ribs to contract and send an additional wave of pain throughout his body. Pain seemed to be the only thing keeping him awake at this point. As strong as his will was, even _he_ couldn't keep himself conscious at this point without some sort of external stimulus.

Feeling as though all hope was lost, Ash's entire body just went limp. His head slouched down as a lone tear streamed down his face. He couldn't believe it was going to end like this. He couldn't believe that he had finally come this close to having a shot at becoming the Pokémon Champion, and now that victory was in sight, it was all about to be ripped away from him. But more importantly, he couldn't believe that his life would be taken away just as he had finally begun to realize how he truly felt about Misty. Just as he had finally had figured out what it was he wanted to say to her on that crossroads all those years ago, when they went their separate ways.

Memories flashed through his mind like images from a scrapbook. Him and Misty meeting for the first time when she fished him and Pikachu out of a river. When they went to the tower in Lavender Town, and Misty cried upon realizing he hadn't died after his outer body experience. The time they shared a dance at the Port Vista. The time that with her help, he saved the world from natural disaster when the legendary birds began to run amuck. All these memories and images flashed through his mind so quickly that they were gone in a flash, but with each image, he could reminisce on every detail of that adventure.

"Misty…." He muttered, feeling another hard blow hit him square in the stomach, cracking another rib. "I'm so sorry."

"Ash!" A feminine voice shouted from behind the door.

The black haired trainer's head quickly shot up, his eyes wide and his heart racing. Machoke momentarily paused and averted his attention to the voice behind the door. The fighting type stepped away from Ash, and began stomping towards the door, cracking his knuckles as he approached.

"Pikachu," She called. "use volt tackle!"

Just as Machoke stepped in front of the door, the hunk of metal went flying out of the wall as a yellow ball of sparks and electricity slammed into it. The door smashed right into Machoke, knocking him off of his feet, and causing him to hit the back of his head hard against the floor, rendering him unconscious.

"What's going on?!" The voice snarled.

"Ash?" Misty cried as she ran into the room. "Are you here?"

"M..Misty…" He weakly replied.

The redhead's eyes went wide when she saw the condition he was in. His clothing was in shreds, his face was badly bruised, and small trails of blood leaked out from his nose and mouth. She quickly ran up to his side, with Pikachu right behind her. She wanted to hug him as tightly as she could, but judging by his condition, she didn't want to risk hurting him.

"What happened?!' She exclaimed as she started tampering with the lock to the chains tied around his wrists.

"Its just a couple scuffs." He laughed, trying to hide the pain that was roaring through his body. "I'll be fine."

"This isn't a couple scuffs Ash!" She replied, using a hair pin she had kept in one of her pockets to unlock the padlock keeping the chains tied together. "We need to get out of here and get you to a hospital, fast!"

"We've got to find Charizard first." He uttered as Misty finally managed to crack open the padlock.

"They took Charizard?"

"Yeah." Ash mumbled as he squeezed his now free wrists, limbering them up. "I don't know where they're keeping him, but we've got to find hi-" Ash quickly silenced himself when a slot opened up from the wall, revealing a single Poké Ball. Ash quickly scrambled to his feet, ignoring all the pain in his body, and took hold of the red and white sphere. "Is this…"

"Your Charizard." The voice finished, booming from the speakers. "Consider it a… show of rare generosity."

Ash wanted to ask why the person who was just earlier threatening to kill him was now giving back his Pokémon. However, now wasn't the time to worry about such matters. At this moment in time, they needed to escape.

XXXXXXXXXX

Giovanni folded his hands in front of him after flicking the switch to cut off his connection to the interrogation room aboard Team Rocket's airship. A sly grin began to worm its way across his face as he leaned back in his soft office chair.

"You may have won this round, Ketchum. But in due time, you will see what I am _truly_ capable of."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Where are we, and how do we get out of here?" Ash groaned, holding his side.

"We're in an airship." Misty answered, taking Ash's free arm over her shoulders so she could help him walk. "Charizard should be able to get us out of here."

"Alright." Ash murmured as they all stepped out of the dark room, and into the halls. He slowly reached for the fire type's Poké Ball, and threw it in front of him. The orange dragon emerged from inside, his roars filling the halls. "Charizard!" He shouted. "Blow a hole in the wall and get us out of here!"

With a nod, the fire type unleashed a barrage of flame into the wall with enough force to blow a hole out the side of the ship, exposing the outside world. Wind began rushing down the halls, causing Pikachu to quickly grab onto Ash's pants leg, while Misty tightly clung to Ash, using both of their weight to remain stable. The two teens and the Pokémon climbed onto Charizard's back as he prepared to take flight. Once his wings started to flap, Ash and Misty could hear a familiar voice shout at them from down the hall.

"Hey!" Domino barked, running towards the group. "Stop!"

That was the last they heard before Charizard shot out of the airship and into the night sky. Free from Team Rocket's grasp, all of them let out a sigh of relief. They were safe now. There was nothing Team Rocket could do to stop them anymore. As Charizard soared back to Corsola Beach, Ash and Misty looked off to the side as another trainer flying on the back of his Pokémon flew up beside them.

"Silver!" Misty shouted. "I'm glad you're okay!"

"Silver?" Ash gave Misty a confused look, trying to figure out what the strange man they had met in the diner a few days ago was doing there.

"It's a long story." She replied. "Let's just say you owe him _big time_."

"O..okay." Ash mumbled, leaning his upper body against Charizard's back as his eyes began to slowly shut. Now that he was free, it was time to take a well earned nap. That beating had really rattled him up, and the notion of rest sounded far more appealing than it should have.

As his eyes closed, he looked over at Silver. The long haired man was grinning, clearly happy to see that he was okay. However, there was something odd about his grin. There was nothing physically strange about it, there was nothing that seemed off about it either. It just seemed… Oddly familiar to him. He didn't have much time to dwell on this though, as sleep began to overtake his body…. Until Misty shook him awake, reminding him not to fall asleep if you have a concussion.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So what did we learn?" Domino asked her father, leaning back in her chair, holding a cell phone up to her ear.

"Most of his information was already recorded in the Mount Quena Reports." Giovanni answered.

"Figures." The officer sighed. "It looks like we went completely out of our way for nothing… Other than a couple rare Pokémon, of course."

"On the contrary," Her boss replied. Though Domino couldn't see it, she knew he was grinning. "there was one bit of information that the Ketchum boy spilled that we did not know about."

Domino raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "And that would be?"

"Mewtwo placed many of the cloned Pokémon in the caverns of Mount Quena, in the hopes that we would not find them."

"Really?!" The blonde shot up from her chair, nearly breathless. "Those clones all share certain genes with Mewtwo, and in turn that means they also might share a gene with…"

"Our little legendary friend."

"Well," Domino snickered. "It looks like tracking him down might not be so hard after all."

* * *

Alrighty, so this is the last time we'll really hear much from Team Rocket... In this story.

Yup, that's right everybody, I've decided to make a second installment. I assure you, this story WILL have a solid ending, and will tell a complete story. However, for reasons of heavy tonal change, as well as Team Rocket having an agenda that is a plot in of its own right, I've decided to make another story once this one is finished.

It is also going to be considerably shorter than this story. It'll probably be around 18-20 chapters long, but will tell a much more coherent story than this one does.

A good way to think about it, is think of this story like the televised series, and think of the next book as the movie that ties up all the loose ends.

But we'll worry about that once this story is finished.

So you're wanting to know when the next chapter is going to be posted. The answer is... I would like to have it finished by the 11th or 12th.

Well, its late, and I'm going to bed.

See ya!


	35. Recovery

I'm back with more!

This chapter is a bit uneventful, and more or less just a breather, since the last bunch of chapters have been pretty action packed. Hopefully you'll enjoy, and will be interested in seeing this little surprise I have for you near the end of the chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

Ash felt a heaviness weighing on his eyes as he forced them open. White light began to leak through the darkness, blinding him initially. After his pupils began to adjust, he found himself in a rather plain room. The ceiling was a blank white, the walls were a rather drab grey, with no features to speak of, save for the window to his right. Off to his side, there was a beeping machine which was attached to a pulse reader that had been strapped to his right index finger.

He leaned up from the rather rigid bed he was laying on, and looked around the room, being met by a group of rather overjoyed faces. Misty sat at the foot of the bed, with Pikachu laying in her lap. May and Drew were standing by his side, and the long haired Silver was sitting in the far corner of the room. All of them turned their attention to him as he woke up, smiles stretched across their faces.

"Ash!" Misty squealed, jumping forward and wrapping her arms tightly around him, but being sure not to aggravate his wounds.

"Welcome back, Ash!" May chirped, playfully running her hand over his head, causing his already messy hair to become even more shaggy. "You've been out for a while."

"Huh?" He mumbled, still trying to figure out what was going on around him. The last thing he could remember was escaping Team Rocket's airship on Charizard, but everything else after that was a bit of a haze. He vaguely remembered Silver being there, and also Misty and Pikachu trying to keep him from passing out, but other than that it was all a blank.

"The doctors put you under sedation for a few days." Drew explained. "You really took a beating back on that airship."

"A few days?" Ash's eyes widened in panic.

"Yeah." May spoke. "You've been out for two days."

"Oh no!" The trainer shouted. "I missed my match with Paul!" Everyone in the room began to laugh, seemingly unfazed by his misfortune. "What's so funny?!"

"Relax, Ash." Misty reassured as she caressed his cheek. "They've postponed the last two rounds of the Master League until the end of the week, due to the attack from Team Rocket and all."

"A..are you sure?" He stuttered, still slightly worried that he had missed his chance at winning the Master League.

"Very sure." She smiled, kissing him on the forehead.

"Aww," May cooed. "isn't that _so_ cute, Drew?"

"Very." He replied plainly, not really showing any form of interest.

Taking a deep breath, Silver lifted himself up from his chair, and made his way over to Ash. As he looked down at the trainer, he cracked a faint grin, yet still carried an intimidating presence with him, albeit unintentionally.

"Its good to see you're up." He chuckled. "After seein' how beat up you were, I didn't think you'd be up and about for another few days."

"Silver…" The black haired trainer looked up at him. "What were you doing there? When Misty saved me?"

"He helped me find you." Misty chimed in. "If it hadn't been for him and his Salamence, we'd have never been able to save you."

"Oh wow." Ash leaned back in his bed, a bit taken back by the news. Had it not been for this man who was more or less a complete stranger, he'd have been a goner. "I guess I really owe you big time then, don't I?"

"Ah," He shrugged. "it was nothin'."

Ash cracked a smile, feeling a bit of comfort in seeing this rather gentle side to this otherwise intimidating figure. However, he still felt a bit of uneasiness, not from Silver's presence though, but because Ash couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Zak after the raid.

XXXXXXXXXX

Zak leaned back in a stiff metal chair, his hands resting on the table in front of him, cuffed together. The bruise over his left eye from when Misty decked him was still showing, and the broken nose he received from Jessie and James had been bandaged up. As for the scratch marks from Meowth, those still remained clear on his face.

"This was more than just a normal raid." Lance growled, resting his palms on the table as he leaned forward, looking Zak dead in the eyes. "Team Rocket wouldn't just attack a city like this without some sort of reason beyond just capturing a few rare Pokémon."

Zak remained silent. He just blankly stared at the champion of Kanto and Johto, not giving in to his interrogation. Lance was beginning to visibly grow frustrated with Zak's resilience, particularly due to the fact that Zak had no reason to hide anything from them. Team Rocket had abandon him, and practically left him gift wrapped for capture. Yet still, he was obviously withholding information from them.

"Why are you still hiding information for Team Rocket?" Cynthia asked in a much more soothing voice, walking up next to the cuffed teenager. "You're worthless to Team Rocket now, holding back on us won't do anything for you, except make you look bad to a jury."

"I have talked." He murmured. "I've told you everything I know. They wanted me to lead the raid, and bring in Ash Ketchum. That was it."

"What was that last part?" Cynthia cocked an eyebrow.

"My boss wanted Ash so she could get back at him for the incident back at Chester Town."

Steven stepped up next to Lance and Cynthia, placing a hand on their shoulders. "I think we need to talk outside." He whispered to each of them. Both of the champions gave him a silent nod before turning around and heading out the door with him, leaving Zak to sit alone in the blank room.

"What do you think?" Cynthia asked, shutting the door behind her.

"He doesn't know anything." Steven replied. "I think Team Rocket left him behind so he'd throw us off of their trail."

"Well I can tell you right now there's more to them trying to kidnap Ketchum than just simple revenge." Lance muttered.

"What information could Ash possibly have that would be of any value to Team Rocket?" Cynthia questioned. "He's practically a child."

"You don't know him as well as I do." Lance replied. "I've had a few run-ins with the kid, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he held at least _some_ value to Team Rocket."

"Well," Steven spoke. "He's still in the hospital, so we can always ask him what happened."

"Has he woken up yet?" Cynthia asked.

"Maybe." The silver haired champion replied. "Either way we're not going to get anything else out of this kid."

Lance sighed, looking over at the one way mirror. He gazed at the lone teenager sitting inside of the empty room. His hands cuffed, his expression blank, and his will broken. It was quite a sad site to behold, actually. He was quite a promising trainer from what Lance had seen of him, but now that was all gone because of the stupidity of his actions. "So what about him?"

"He'll go to trail, and will be sent to a disciplinary camp." Steven answered. "He's too young to go to prison."

"I know _that_." Lance grumbled. "But will it actually help him?"

"That's not our concern." Cynthia said flatly. "He broke the law, and will be punished for it. Rather or not he 'rehabilitates' isn't for us to worry about."

"Yeah." The red haired champion mumbled, leaning away from the mirror. "Yeah, you're right." He paused to take a breath, turning to face his fellow champions. "Let's go see if Ketchum is up yet."

XXXXXXXXXX

Despite the fact he was bedridden, Ash's day in the hospital had actually turned out to be better than he expected. He found out that his ribs hadn't actually been fractured, but severely bruised, meaning that he'd be able to walk around by the next day as long as he refrained from strenuous activities. It was also a relief to hear that his concussion hadn't done any long term damage, though the doctors did say that he would certainly be feeling the effects well into next week. What really brightened his day though, was not the news of the lack of severity in his wounds, but being able to spend the day talking with his friends.

Him, Misty, May, Drew, and Pikachu all talked and laughed, exchanging stories with one another. Silver partook in many of the conversations as well, but left shortly after Ash had awaken, claiming he had personal business to attend to. He was quite an interesting person. His brash appearance proved to be quite the opposite of his true personality. He laughed and joked just as much as the rest of them, almost even more so.

After he left, Misty couldn't help but ponder on about Silver. Something about him seemed rather odd, or for that matter, similar to someone she knew. Silver's mannerisms, attitude, and even his sense of humor seemed very reminiscent of Ash's. This paired along with his cryptic explanation of why he wanted to help Ash after he was kidnapped seemed all too… coincidental.

"Hey Mist." Ash shook her shoulder, getting her attention.

"Hm?" She turned to him. "Yeah, Ash?"

"How about tomorrow, we spend the day at the beach?"

Misty smiled. "You should probably rest tomorrow."

"No," He quickly replied. "I _should_ be training."

The redhead snickered. "Well, if you insi-" She was cut off by the sound of knocking on the wooden door. Everyone turned their attention to the noise. "Come in."

The door opened, and a rather short black haired nurse peered her head inside. She was a young, skinny nurse, and seemed quite young to be working on a hospital. Perhaps she was an intern. "Mr. Ketchum?" She called, looking at the trainer. "You have an incoming call from your mother, would you like for us to forward it through to you?"

"My Mom?!" He shot up from his bed. "How'd she know I was…"

"I told her." Misty interjected, bringing Ash's attention to her. "After they sedated you, I called her and told her about everything that had happened."

"But how did she know I already woke up?" He asked. "None of you have called her yet."

May walked over to the window and lifted one of the blinds, peaking through the little slit. In front of the hospital, there where what looked like nearly a hundred people, some of which holding up signs wishing Ash a quick recovery. "I think you can thank the press for that." She said as she pulled her fingers away from the blinds.

"Huh." The black haired trainer snickered. "I didn't know I was that popular.

"You are _very_ popular!" The nurse exclaimed, seemingly trying to silence herself after her unexpected outburst. "I'm sorry." She said sheepishly. "It's just… Well… You're the underdog, and everyone loves an underdog."

"Great." He sighed, leaning back on his bed. "I'm the underdog… again."

"Oh, quit complaining, Ash." Misty snapped. "Do you want fans or not?"

He didn't reply with anything verbally coherent, but instead mumbled and muttered to himself.

"So…" The Nurse started bringing the conversation back on track. "Would you like for me to forward the call through?"

"Oh, yeah, sure."

With a smile and a nod, the nurse's head vanished behind the door, and then shut it. After a brief moment of silence, the video phone to the left of his bed started chiming with the same ringtone as the one at his house.

"Ring! Ring! Ring! Phone call! Phone call! Ring! Ring! Ri-"

"Hello?" He answered ever so wearily. The T.V. screen lit up, showing not only his mother, but a few other faces he hadn't expected to see. To Delia's left was Professor Oak and his assistant, Tracey, and to her right was none other than one of the best friends he'd ever had. "Brock!"

"Ash Ketchum!" Delia shouted. "You worry your poor mother to death by getting kidnapped by Team Rocket, and the first thing you do is say hi to Brock?!" At this point, Misty, May, Drew, and Pikachu all leaned over Ash to see the spectacle unfold. Once Delia caught a glimpse of the familiar faces though, she couldn't help but forget about her anger and frustration with her son. "Misty! May! Pikachu!" She squealed. "And…. I'm sorry, who are you?" She directed her attention to Drew.

"Oh, hello." He answered. "I'm Drew. I'm a friend of May's."

"Oh good." She replied. I'm glad to see that May was able to find another traveling companion." After the introduction, she turned her attention back to Ash. "So how are you feeling sweety? We've been worried sick about you."

"Yeah." Brock added. "When I heard what happened, I came down here as quickly as I could."

"I'm feeling better." Ash answered. "It's just a few scrapes and bruises, that's all."

"Are you sure?" Delia asked wearily. "Misty said you looked really bad when she rescued you."

"Ahh," Ash shrugged, making no big deal out of it. "I got a little roughed up, but Misty and Silver got to me before anything really bad happened."

Professor Oak leaned forward. "I'm sorry, Misty and who?"

"Silver." He replied. "He's a guy we met here. He helped Misty get to Team Rocket's airship."

On the other side of the screen, Oak and Delia started to exchange brief glances with one another. "Well." Delia started. "Please be sure to tell him I said thank you."

"Will do!" He happily replied.

There was suddenly another knock on Ash's door, the same rapping from before. The door slowly opened up to reveal the same nurse from before, peering her head around the corner. "You have another incoming call, it's from someone who says they're a friend of yours."

"Jeez." Ash muttered. "How many people know I woke up already?"

"Would you like for me to send it through too?"

"Uh, yeah sure."

The nurse left once more, closing the door behind her. Within less than ten seconds, the screen split, putting the call to Pallet on the right side of the screen, while the new call appeared on the left side. As soon as the screen lit up, Ash instantly recognized the blue haired girl on the other end.

"Ash!" She screamed. "You had me scared to death!"

The trainer from Pallet, as well as Brock on the other end, couldn't help but laugh at the young girl's outburst. "Hey Dawn! How're ya doin'?"

"I just got to Goldenrod City, and the first thing I hear is that you just woke up from a coma!"

"Well," He replied. "it wasn't exactly a coma. I was just sedated, that's all."

Dawn let out a deep sigh, looking down at her feet as she took a breath. "Either way, I'm glad to hear you're alright." She looked back up and gazed her eyes over to the left side of her screen, seeing Brock on the other line. "Hey Brock! It's good to see you again!"

"Hey Dawn!" He replied with just as much enthusiasm.

"Wow." Misty spoke. "It looks like you've got ever single one of your traveling companions in one phone call."

Ash couldn't help but laugh at the realization. Now that he thought about it, this was the first time ever that all of his traveling companions had come face to face with each other at the same time. Though they were looking at each other through a screen, it was still worthy of note.

The call continued on for about half an hour, mainly with small talk. Ash told them about his recent battles, Dawn told of her exploits in Johto, and Brock filled them all in on how his aspirations to become a Pokémon breeder had been going.

Ash found himself to be quite surprised with how much his old friends had accomplished over the past seven months. Dawn had already won five ribbons, and placed in all of her other contests. Brock was working at one of the most widely recognized daycares in Kanto. Though it was a rather lowly position, he was also under an apprenticeship with one of their top breeders. It was nice to see how far all of his friends had come since he and Misty had left for the Master League. All of his friends were living their dreams, or at least working their way to living them.

After more small talk, there was yet another knock on the door.

"Who's trying to call now?" Misty murmured, turning towards the door. "Come in."

The door opened up all the way this time, and three people stepped inside, bringing a silence to everyone in the room. One was a fiery haired man in a black and red cape, the other was silver haired man dressed in a fine suit. The last one to enter was a tall, blonde woman with a black coat that went all the way down to her shins. Off to the side, the same nurse from the past two times stood there with a very sheepish look, shrugging as if to say 'sorry'.

"I'm sorry if we're interrupting anything." Lance spoke. "But we need to speak with Ash Ketchum." He paused to look around at everyone else in the room. "Alone."

Ash silently looked at all of his friends, then towards the video phone. "I'll have to call you guys back later, okay?" Without waiting for a proper goodbye, Ash hung up the phone, making the screen go black. May and Drew were the first to get up and leave the room, while Misty very reluctantly stood up from the bed.

"I'll be right outside." She announced. Though she was looking at Ash, she was seemingly trying to get her point across to the champions as well. After exchanging a nod with each one of them, the redhead walked past the three and made her way out the door, slowly shutting it behind her.

"Umm… Can I help you?" Ash asked, coming off a bit starstruck and worried at the same time.

"We're here to ask you a few questions about what happened on that airship." Steven stepped forward.

At first Ash was hesitant to talk, knowing that if he told them about everything that had happened, he'd be giving away Mewtwo's secret as well. However, that can of worms had already been opened when he spilled his guts to Team Rocket. To hold back information from the good guys at this point would just be idiotic.

"What do you want to know?"

Cynthia sat down at the foot of his bed, folding her hands in her lap. "Everything."

XXXXXXXXXX

For nearly an hour, Ash told the champions everything he could remember from his time under Team Rocket's custody. The questions he was asked, the answers he gave, everything. Lance, Steven, and Cynthia remained silent as the trainer dumped all of this information onto them. At first he almost found it a bit offsetting to see them remain so blank and emotionless as he told them of all these things that happened to him.

Once Ash had told them everything he remembered, the champions continued to remain silent for a moment, until Cynthia spoke up. "So you don't know where Mewtwo is at right now, correct?"

He shook his head. "Not a clue."

Steven stepped forward. "And you're _sure_ that those clone Pokémon are still in the caverns below the mountain?"

"Positive." Ash replied. "Unless Mewtwo came back and took them away, they should still be there."

"Alright." Lance murmured. "That's all the information we needed." He paused as Cynthia stood up from the foot of the bed, and Steven began turning to the door. "Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Ketchum. Hopefully we should be able to get all of this straightened out." With that, the red haired champion turned towards the door, following Steven out, with Cynthia right behind him. Just before the blonde haired champion of Sinnoh made her leave though, she stopped and turned her head back to the trainer from Pallet.

"Hey, Ash." She called.

"Y…Yeah?" He stuttered, still not completely over being starstruck.

"Get better soon. You're my favorite to win, and I'd hate to see you lose because you didn't get enough rest." She said with a friendly wink.

Ash's face lit up, a smile spread from ear to ear. "O..Of course!" He blissfully exclaimed "And thanks!"

"Not a problem, Ash." She replied before stepping out of the room, and allowing Misty and his friends to reenter.

"Cynthia." Lance called from down the hall, standing next to Steven. "Let's go."

"I'm coming." She said as she made her way to her fellow champions. "You're in a bit of a rush."

"Time is of the essence." He grumbled, as they all started down the hall. "We need to come up with a plan… And fast."

"Lance," Cynthia replied. "You already know what we have to do. We need to send some League agents to Mount Quena, and hopefully they'll be able to intercept Team Rocket before they can capture any cloned Pokémon."

"We can't risk just sending in agents, we have to go in ourselves."

"You can't be serious?" Cynthia started to raise her voice. "If we leave now, just as The Master League is about to finish up, that'll raise too much suspicion from Team Rocket."

"She has a point, Lance." Steven added.

"We'll talk about this later." He snapped, bringing a quick end to the conversation. "Somewhere private."

Cynthia rested her thumb and her middle finger against her temples, and shook her head. Lance was without a doubt a great champion, and an incredible asset to the Pokémon League. He had a great 'Get it done yourself' attitude that made him quite an effective leader. However, sometimes he didn't know when to best let someone else handle a situation.

Regardless, Cynthia knew that Mr. Goodshow wouldn't let any of the champions leave when The Master League was this close to coming to an end. It would just raise too many eyebrows, and cause too much unwanted attention. Besides that, she was certain that the Pokémon League's best agents would have no problem stopping Team Rocket. Her only worry was that by the time they got to Mount Quena, Team Rocket would have already been long gone by that point.

XXXXXXXXXX

As the days passed, Ash's wounds began to heal more and more, and his training became harder and harder. He was nearing the final stretch of The Master League, and if he wanted to stand a chance of winning, he had to give it his all. This was made even more true due to his lost time from being comatose for nearly two days.

His day at the beach with Misty ended up turning into a day of their Pokémon sparring with one another. The day after that was spent with him focusing on his Pokémon's skills outside of their type, heeding the words of Blaine. His third and final day was the most brutal of all though. With his ribs bandaged up, and his wounds healing, he spent the entire day training with his Pokémon. If Infernape was sparing with Gabite, he was sparing with Sceptile. If Torterra was lifting boulders his size, Ash was lifting rocks half of his.

Though Misty strongly opposed the idea of Ash straining himself like this, she couldn't find it in herself to tell him to stop. Even though his physical abilities were leagues behind his Pokémon's, the sheer fact that he was training alongside them was enough to strengthen not just his body, but his bond with his Pokémon as well. Whenever one of his Pokémon found themselves struggling, they would turn to see Ash struggling as well, but fighting through the pain anyways. That alone was enough to motivate them to push through and endure until they succeeded in their training.

As the sun slowly started to set on Corsola Beach for the final time before The Master League resumed, Ash spent the last few minutes of sunlight lying on the sandy beach, letting the cool ocean waves rush against his skin, relaxing his muscles.

Misty walked up next to him, and sat down in the sand. His face was red from all of the sweating and training, and even though he had been lying there for nearly ten minutes, his breathing and his heart rate were still accelerated.

Ash looked up at her and cracked a grin. "Hey Misty…" He paused to take a breath. "How was your day?"

"You've been lifting boulders with Pokémon, while recovering from bruised ribs and a concussion." She replied. "I don't think it really matters how my day was. I think what matters is rather or not you're going to die on me before the end of the night."

He laughed. "I'll be fine." He stopped to take another breath. "The sunset is really nice, isn't it?"

Misty turned to look at the bright orange ball of light slowly setting over the horizon line, its light reflecting off of the ripples in the calming ocean. It really was quite a nice site to behold. However, all of her attention was focused on Ash, making sure he wouldn't pass out from hyperventilation.

"You think you're ready for your match tomorrow?"

"You bet I am!" He shot up, seemingly forgetting that he was nearly out of breath. "Tomorrow, after I beat Paul, I'm going to the finals! Then after that…." He stopped for a moment, remembering whom he would most likely be competing against if he made it to the finals. "Then I'm gonna win it all."

XXXXXXXXXX

Damian leaned back in the recliner sitting on the far wall of his cabin. He was flipping through a few news stations, catching up on the recent events that had been happening around the Kanto and Johto regions. Team Rocket was still more or less on hiatus in those regions, making their appearance in Zerra all the more surprising.

His solitude was soon interrupted as there was a sudden rapping on his door, which caused him to slowly dart his eyes towards the wooden door on the other side of the cabin. As the knocking continued, he slowly lifted himself from the chair, and stepped towards the door. He looked down at his bare chest, realizing that all of his scars were exposed. Since he didn't feel like putting on a shirt, he just grabbed his coat and threw it on, hastily buttoning it up before opening the door.

"What do you wa…" He stopped, looking at the woman standing before him. "Oh, what are you still doing here?"

"I wanted to come see you," Domino cooed as she ran two fingers down his chest, causing the jacket to unbutton. "good looking." The blonde stepped inside of his cabin, shutting the door behind her. She was dressed in her trademark hat, a blue tank top and jean shorts, which Damian assumed were her street clothes, as the only thing he'd ever seen her wear before was her black Team Rocket uniform.

Once inside, Domino jumped onto the bed and sprawled out across the mattress. "Man, you guys get it good in these places. This bed is nicer than the one I had back on the airship."

"Yeah." He mumbled, pulling off his trench coat and throwing it onto the coat rack. "So what _are_ you doing here?"

"Can't I just come to wish my boyfriend a bit of luck before his match tomorrow?" She purred, laying down on her stomach and looking up at the long haired trainer.

"You know, I don't think Giovanni would be too fond of you coming to see me." Damian said as he leaned back in his recliner.

Domino snickered. "Daddy doesn't even think I know who you are." She kicked her legs up, letting her heels dangle over her head. "He even showed me a picture of you before the raid and told me not to hurt you."

"Good." He replied. "I've worked too hard and gone too far just to have Giovanni take away all these Pokémon he's been ever so kind to provide me with, because he found out I was dating his daughter." His tone was dully sarcastic.

"Not like you need em'." She smirked. "That Typhlosion of yours has been wiping the floor in every match you've been in."

"Are you really here for just making small talk, or is there a reason you're h-" Damian was silenced when the blonde Rocket officer got up from the bed and placed a finger on his lips.

"I guess you _could_ say that." She cooed as she started to straddle him, all the while Damian kept the same scowl he always carried. "It's been a _really_ long time since I got to have some alone time with you." Damian let out a huff, seemingly not interested in her advances. It was all part of their little game though. "So are you going to tell me how you got these scars?" She whispered as she ran a finger along one of the deep crevices in his flesh. Damian couldn't help but do something that he very rarely did. So rarely in fact, that Domino was one of the few people he'd ever known to see him do this… He made a genuine grin.

"No."

"Well," The blonde pressed her hands against his torso, and got nose to nose with him, her violet eyes looking directly into his icy cold ones. "Make me a promise then."

"Sure."

"When you become the champion, and we get rid of my old man, and become the new leaders of Team Rocket; then you'll tell me how you got them." It wasn't a question.

Damian remained silent for a moment, seemingly thinking about how he should respond. After a moment though, he finally gave her a sly response. "Deal."

* * *

I get the feeling that little twist caught a gasp out of all of you... for exactly ten seconds, before you shrugged it off.

Well, the next chapter, we're getting back to the Master League, with Ash going in his rematch against Paul! I hope to get this chapter out before the end of the week... What the hell, I _will_ get it out before the end of the week.

Till then,

See ya!


	36. Round 4: Another Rivalry Revival

So guys, I'm sorry I'm late on updating this one. This chapter is _very_ long, and I assure you, I haven't been slacking off, putting this chapter to the side. It's just with my power going out on Thursday, and overexerting myself while working out on Friday, I just couldn't get this thing typed up and finished in time.

Well, it's here, and I really hope you guys enjoy it!

* * *

Damian rolled over in his bed, placing his arm on the other side of the mattress. He expected to feel Domino laying next to him, but at the same time wasn't surprised when he found she wasn't there. He figured she left recently, as her indention in the bed was still there. Grumbling and groaning, he leaned up and looked at the empty side of the bed. On the pillow was a sealed letter, and a black tulip.

The fair haired trainer huffed under his breath before picking up and examining the tulip. The stem was strong, and the petals were quite healthy. For a moment he began to wonder how she managed to keep the flower this healthy without having to put it in water over the night. After silently pondering on the thought for a moment, he dismissed it, and placed the flower on the nightstand.

As he opened the letter, he could wisp in the faint smell of her perfume. It was sweet, like honeysuckle. Too sweet, for his taste. Damian unfolded the piece of paper and skimmed over the cursive writing. It was one of her little goodbye letters that he had grown used to reading. Though the words may have varied, they were always the same. She'd go on about how she had important business to attend to, and that she'd see him again when there was time. Of course, like always, there was a red lipstick kiss next to her signature.

Letting out a sigh, Damian wondered how he found himself so infatuated with someone like her. Despite her rather grim background as well as her notorious temper, whenever he was around her she was often more giddy than anything. He hated giddiness. Yet for some reason he found himself able to tolerate it when it was coming from her. Perhaps he had more affection towards her than he thought, but now was not the time to think about such things.

His quarter finals match was tonight, directly after Ash and Paul's. He tried to recall whom it was he was going against. It was some gambler. From what he remembered, he was quite a skilled trainer, but Damian didn't view him as much of a threat. His opponent may have been good, but he wouldn't be able to take down his team of elite Pokémon.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash did a few breathing exercises and stretches as he waited to be called out of the locker room. Though he was confident that he could win the battle, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't at the very least a little bit nervous. His match against Paul in Sinnoh was one of the toughest victories he'd ever had, and he was certain it would be even tougher this time around.

He looked through the five Poké Balls on his belt, and did some last minute strategizing. He wasn't sure if Paul would use a team similar to the one he used in their match back at the Lily of The Valley Conference, but even if he didn't, Ash still felt that he had a well balanced team that should be able to combat anything Paul had to throw at him.

"Mr. Ketchum," an official called, peering his head around the corner of the locker room. "let's go, your match is about to start."

"Alright." He replied, taking in another deep breath. "I'll be there in just a second."

The official nodded before walking off. The black haired trainer followed his lead, going down a long corridor before opening a door leading to the battlefield. Ash stepped through, finding himself in a dark, rectangular tunnel that's end was brightly lit by the sun beaming down on the arena.

Taking one final breath, the trainer stepped forward, coming into view of everyone in attendance. As the audience cheered and applauded, Ash could feel the adrenaline begin pumping through his veins. The intoxicating chemical coursed through his body, causing his heart rate to slow and his composure to increase.

Once he and Pikachu stepped into the battle box, Paul emerged from the other side of the arena, also being greeted by applause. Once the purple haired trainer took his position in his respective battle box, the referee approached the sideline, both flags in hand.

"This is a semi final match for the Master League Competition." He announced. "Are both trainers ready?" The referee looked at the two of them, waiting for an answer.

"I don't know, Paul." Ash snickered. "Are _you_ ready?"

Paul didn't so much as change his rather blank, albeit serious expression. "Whenever you are."

"Well, I'm ready!"

"Then so am I."

After hearing their answers, the referee waved down both of the flags. "Then let the first round of the semi-finals begin!"

"Let'start this off with a bang! Go Pidgeot!" Ash threw his first flying type's Poké Ball, releasing the majestic bird onto the field. As soon as he was freed from his spherical home, he immediately took flight, and began soaring across the air.

"A Pidgeot?" Paul cocked an eyebrow, a bit surprised by the unexpected choice in Pokémon. After all of his encounters with the trainer, not once had he ever seen him use a Pidgeot, or even mention it for that matter. "Okay. Honchkrow, go!" The purple haired trainer released his own bird, letting it take flight the second it emerged from its Poké Ball as well.

"This should be good." Ash made a sly grin. Though Paul's Honchkrow wasn't something to be taken lightly, Ash knew that Pidgeot had a speed and maneuverability advantage, but as a trade off Honchkrow could certainly dish out more pain than Pidgeot could. "Use your agility to outmaneuver him!" The trainer knew that if he wanted to stand any chance at winning this round, he'd need to use Pidgeot's superior speed to go in for the quick hits, while also avoiding anything the dark flying type had to throw at him.

The elegant bird soared across the sky with nearly blinding speeds, spiraling around Honchkrow, who remained flapping his wings in place, maintaining a steady altitude. While Pidgeot circled around the dark bird, his opponent remained calm, very collected. His eyes traced Ash's Pokémon each time it crossed his line of sight. Off to the side, Paul ordered for Honchkrow to wait for Pidgeot to make a move.

Ash found it a bit suspicious, but knew that he wouldn't get anywhere by having Pidgeot do nothing more than fly in circles. So he took the bait. "Go in for a wing attack!"

"Now!" Just as the bird swooped in to get a hit in on his opponent, Honchkrow's form quickly faded as a shroud of darkness overtook him, causing Pidgeot's attack to hit nothing but empty air.

"Not faint attack again!" Ash growled in frustration, remembering he fell for the same trick in his battle with Harrison. Unlike his battle with Harrison though, Paul didn't give Ash enough time to react. Honchkrow reappeared directly above Pidgeot, who was frantically looking for his opponent, and smacked him hard in the back of the head.

Pidgeot began crashing towards the ground, spinning as he rapidly lost altitude. However, just as he came within mere inches of the ground, he stretched out his wings and caught the updraft, allowing him to shoot back into the sky.

"Whew." Ash sighed, relieved to see that his Pokémon was able to recover from his fall. "Let's come back at him with a quick attack!" Ash's Pokémon started screaming across the air. He was traveling so quickly that his form began to shift in and out of sight, growing closer and closer to his opponent.

"Counter it with night slash!" Paul retorted. Honchkrow's right wing began to glow a bright purple as he too began soaring across the air, trying to meet Pidgeot halfway.

Ash had to think fast. If Pidgeot went in for the attack, then he'd be hit by Honckrow's night slash for sure. But if he started playing defense now, he'd have his back to the ropes. The two Pokémon were getting close. It wouldn't be long until they both smashed into one another and Pidgeot would be sent crashing towards the ground once again. Knowing he had little choice, Ash made the call.

"Dodge it!" Just as the two birds nearly collided, Pidgeot tilted himself to the side, narrowly avoiding Honchkrow's glowing wing as it just barely grazed his belly. At that moment, Pidgeot decided to do its own little improve, and let out a hard flap of its wings. The coursing air coming from the two birds had all accumulated into the narrow space between them, causing Pidgeot's gust attack to hit with full force, and sent Honchkrow flying across the sky as the heavy wind smashed into him. At first Ash was a bit dumbfounded by his Pokémon acting on its own accord, but since it worked, he chose not to dwell on it. "Now that he's open, use aerial ace!"

Pidgeot soared across the sky towards Honchkrow, causing Paul to clench his fist in hopes that his Pokémon would be able to regain his balance so he could counter. The crow flipped and spiraled, losing altitude as it did so. Then just as Pidgeot was nearing, he finally managed to get his bearings straight and returned to flying normally. "Honchkrow, use dark pulse!"

"Oh no!" Ash exclaimed. "Get out of the way!" By the time his words reached Pidgeot, he had already crashed head-on into the spiraling beams of darkness. The bird fell towards the ground once again, this time failing to recover mid-fall.

As the bird landed hard on the ground, the entire audience unanimously cringed. At first Ash didn't think he'd get up, but sure enough his loyal Pokémon managed to find the strength in him to lift himself back onto his talons.

Paul bit down on his lip, a bit frustrated that his opponent was still standing. "Go in for a wing attack and finish him off!" Honchkrow quickly complied, and began soaring downward, his wings glowing white. Pidgeot seemed completely dazed, and unable to counter. Paul was sure this was the end of it.

"Pidgeot, use sand attack!" Ash cried out in desperation.

With one hard flap, the bird shot up a gust of wind just in time to meet Honchkrow before he could land his attack. A flurry of sand and dirt shot up into the air, hitting the dark flying type square in the eyes, and caused him to crash into the ground and miss his target.

"No!" Paul shouted. "Honchkrow, get up!" The bird rapidly started flapping his wings, pulling himself back into the air in hopes that he could at least gain air control before his opponent had regained flight. However not only was Pidgeot already up and flying again, he was also readying for an attack.

"Show em' what your hurricane can do!" Ash shouted, trying to hide his smirk. Pidgeot began flapping his wings as viciously and furiously as he could, sending a powerful surge of winds towards his opponent. Since Honchkrow was still trying to regain his balance, and also disoriented from the sand in his eyes, he was completely unable to brace himself in any way. The hard winds crashed into the dark flying type, and sent him soaring across the arena and slamming him square into the border separating those in the front row from the action on the field. Honchkrow's body peeled off of the border like an old sticker before landing on the ground, making a loud _thump_.

The referee ran up to the downed Pokémon, checking to see if there was any response; there wasn't one. "Honchkrow is unable to battle!" He announced, raising the flags into the air. "Pidgeot is the winner!"

The audience roared in applause, obviously quite pleased with the intensity of the battle. Misty and May once again being the loudest in attendance. Near the back of the stands, Damian leaned against a pillar, his arms crossed. He couldn't help but fixate his attention on the battle below. Was that really the same kid he humiliated before the Master League started? During that battle, he seemed completely inept. Yet here, he actually seemed to be showing a sense of strategy.

Ash sighed in relief, actually a little bit surprised that he managed to pull the victory in that round. He looked up at Pidgeot, whom was breathing heavily as he landed on the ground, allowing himself to rest his wings. Even though Honchkrow was only able to get two hits in on Pidgeot, they were two solid hits, and the fall from thirty feet in the air onto hard packed dirt didn't help either. Ash hated to do it, but he chose to withdraw the Pokémon, knowing that if Pidgeot continued on into the next round, he'd be taken down before he could even get a single move in.

Ash took hold of the next Poké Ball, wanting to toss it onto the field, but instead chose to wait for Paul to reveal his next Pokémon. The purple haired trainer eyed him, knowing Ash was waiting for him to pick first. Choosing his next Pokémon cautiously, he reached for the Poké Ball on the far end of his belt.

"Electivire, I choose you!" The massive, humanoid shaped, electric type took to the field, shooting sparks out of his antennae and finger tips. The last time Ash went against this monster of a Pokémon, his Infernape was pushed to his limits. This time though, it'd be a little different.

"That was a pretty bad choice." Ash threw a sly look Paul's way.

"What are you talking about?" He murmured.

"I'll let you see for yourself!" The black haired trainer tossed his next Poké Ball onto the field, unleashing a bipedal dinosaur-like Pokémon, with a spinning horn on the tip of his nose. The Pokémon stood notably taller than Electivire, and looked twice as ruthless. "Paul, say hello to Rhydon."

"Whoa!" May jumped up from her seat, eyes wide. "When did he get _that_?"

"He caught him not long before we got here." Misty answered, almost as surprised as May. "I just hope Ash can control him."

Back on the battlefield, the Sinnoh native growled, aware that he had put himself at a severe disadvantage by picking Electivire. Nearly all of his attacks were completely worthless due to Rhydon's lack of conductivity. The only thing he had going for him were a few fighting moves that _may_ deal some serious damage to his opponent.

"Electivire, if you want to beat him, you're going to have to let him get in close." His Pokémon nodded, taking a wide stance, waiting for his opponent to charge him.

On the other side of the field, Rhydon began hoofing his foot into the ground, ready to bulldoze over Electivire. He waited though, heeding Ash's commands. During the past few days of training, Ash had found a quiet place just outside of Corsola Beach where he could privately train with the powerful ground and rock type. It didn't take long for Ash to gain respect from the Pokémon, and it took an even shorter amount of time for the trainer to gain a comprehension of Rhydon's moves.

Once the referee signaled for the start of the match, Ash let Rhydon cut loose. He ordered for the towering dinosaur-like Pokémon to charge his opponent with a megahorn attack. The ground and rock type lowered his head, aiming his drill square at his electrified opponent. Electivire stood his ground though, waiting for Rhydon to get in close enough for him to strike.

Just as the gargantuan Pokémon came inches away from his adversary, Electivire delivered a hard right jab. The punch landed square against Rhydon's chest with enough force to break through reinforced concrete, which made it all the more surprising when Rhydon endured the hit, and pushed through.

Paul and his Pokémon's eyes went wide when Rhydon pushed through the super effective attack, and smashed his horn square into the center of Electivre's torso, sending him flying off of his feet. With a bellow of pain, the electric type fell back and landed hard on the ground, shooting up dust and dirt all around the outline of his body.

Rhydon stood by, idly waiting for his opponent to get back onto his feet. He didn't seem the least bit fazed by the hard hit to his chest. It was like Rhydon's hard body managed to completely absorb the hit. Electivire stumbled back to a standing position, his fists clenched, and his eyes fixated on Rhydon.

Paul felt a bead of sweat trickle down his cheek. At the moment, he was losing this match, and he was losing badly. Taking a deep breath, he ordered for Electivire to go in for another brick break, but this time Rhydon was free to catch the punch with his stubby claws.

"What?!" Paul couldn't believe what he was seeing. This was the strongest Rhydon he'd ever seen in his life. Possibly even stronger than most Rhyperiors he'd ever encountered. "What is that thing?"

"Just a really strong Rhydon." Ash replied. "Now Rhydon, finish him off with hammer arm!" The ground and rock type flung Electivire into the air with complete ease. Then just as the electric type came falling to the ground, Rhydon's entire right arm began to glow brilliantly as he swung a hard punch square into Electivire's face, rendering him completely unconscious before he even hit the ground.

"Electivire is no longer able to battle! Rhydon his the winner!" These words were like nails on a chalkboard for Paul. One of his strongest Pokémon had been taken down, and taken down quite easily at that. As he checked through his Poké Balls, he reached for one that he felt should be able to match Rhydon in strength. It was a long shot, but he figured it should work.

"Nidoking, go!" Rhydon's second opponent took the field, ready to charge into battle.

Ash started to feel a little bit of sweat trickle down his own cheek. Paul's Nidoking certainly wouldn't be an easy opponent to topple. He remembered quite well how his Nidoking managed to withstand a direct hit from a flash cannon from a Registeel. Though he may have lost that fight, it was certainly a great testament to Nidoking's resilience.

Once they were signaled to start again, Ash ordered for Rhydon to hold off from attacking for the time being. Though he may have been acting a little bit too cautious, he didn't want for Nidoking to pull in a quick victory by using an unexpected counter.

Paul's Nidoking began to slowly stomp towards Rhydon, who was flaring his jaws while the horn atop his nose began spinning as if to welcome his opponent to come in for an attack. Showing no fear, the ground and poison type charged in at Paul's order, and locked his claws with Rhydon's.

The two Pokémon started pushing against one another, trying to outmatch the other in a test of strength. Rhydon was actually taken slightly off guard by Nidoking's power. In the wild he'd never encountered a Pokémon that could match him in raw power, which in a way made Rhydon happy to finally have an even match.

"Rhydon, show Nidoking how strong you _really_ are!" The drill Pokémon complied, putting forth an extra bit of strength, which was just what Nidoking wanted. The purple Pokémon bent his knees, allowing himself to get a lower center of gravity. With Rhydnon's forward momentum, he was able to send his opponent flying over his head, landing square on his back. A small tremor filled the stadium when Rhydon hit hard on the ground, even causing Ash and Paul to stumble slightly.

"Now that he's down, use thrash!" Paul's words were like a match that lit a fire in Nidoking's eyes. The Pokémon spun around and faced Rhydon, who was getting back onto his feet. Before his opponent could even fully get up, Nidoking charged into Rhydon, smashing his horn square into his opponent's chest. Rhydon wailed out in pain, but was quickly silenced when he felt a hard slash across his face, followed by another, and then one more after that. Infuriated, Rhydon tried to get a move in without waiting for Ash's order, but was stopped when Nidoking spun around and smashed his tail into him, knocking him down once more.

"Rhydon!" Ash cried out. "Are you alright?!" Instead of giving a direct response, the Pokémon pulled himself back up, and made a vicious roar, which was more than enough to signify his well being to his trainer. "Okay then, use take down!"

Rhydon lowered his head and charged towards Nidoking like a Tauros would a matador. Paul tried to order his Pokémon to sidestep it, but Nidoking was too lost in his thrashing to even take notice of his orders. Instead, he chose to rush Rhydon, being met by a hard spinning drill, followed up by a shoulder check.

Nidoking's resilience proved to be enough to keep him on his feet though, and since Rhydon was now in striking distance, he was allowed to continue wailing on the Pokémon. Even though Rhydon's hard skin soaked in most of the blows, Nidoking was hitting with enough force to smash through the hide of a Steelix, and even Rhydon couldn't completely withstand that.

After Nidoking finished beating down on his opponent, he found himself slightly lightheaded, even a bit dizzy from all of the overexertion. He stumbled back, giving Rhydon room to find his bearings. The Pokémon was clearly dazed and confused, and that may have been all the room Ash needed to swoop in the victory.

"Rhydon, use hyper beam!" The ground and rock type's horn began to glow brilliantly as he opened his jaws. As the blast powered up, Paul tried to order for Nidoking to get out of the way, but Nidoking couldn't even tell which direction was up or down, much less where to go to avoid Rhydon's hyper beam.

A powerful blast of light blew across the battlefield, completely engulfing Nidoking in the searing hot blast of raw energy. The entire audience went silent, patiently awaiting for the dust to settle so they could see what remained of Rhydon's opponent. Once the dust began to settle, Rhydon was completely taken off guard by the site of Nidoking rushing through the shroud of dirt, crashing into him with the force of a speeding tractor trailer.

The entire audience once again came to life, cheering and applauding to see the fight go on. Rhydon was completely helpless to fight back, as he was still recharging from his hyper beam. Nidoking wasn't doing much better though, as his entire body was scratched and bruised, and judging by the tired look in his eyes, he was on fumes.

"Rhydon, c'mon!" Ash exclaimed. "Nidoking doesn't have much left in him! Just give him one good shot with hammer arm, and he'll be out!"

"Nidoking, he's tired and wounded!" Paul shouted from his side of the field. "A brick break will finish him!"

The two Pokémon backed away from one another, giving themselves enough room to throw a good, powerful punch. They both eyed one another, taking deep breaths as they drew their fists back. Both Pokémon threw forth their powerful attacks with all the force they had left in them. Rhydon's hulking hammer arm landed square against Nidoking's chest, while Nidoking's brick break hit hard on Rhydon's right cheek.

Ash and Paul both clenched their fists, while the audience sat at the edge of their seats, waiting to see the outcome of the attacks. Both ground types swayed wearily, their bodies swinging to and fro until their foreheads bumped against one another. The two adversaries glared into each other's eyes, waiting for the other to fall, but at the same time using the weight of the other to keep themselves supported. After the brief stare down, Rhydon nudged his head forward slightly, pushing Nidoking back. Without any support, the ground and poison type fell onto his back and didn't get up.

"Nidoking is unable to battle! Rhydon is the winner!"

Paul stomped his foot, cursing under his breath. He knew Rhydon was on the ropes, but the fact remained that he was still down three to six. Was this the same Ash Ketchum he went against in Sinnoh? Or had he just lost his edge during his time in Zerra? Either way, Paul wasn't going to give in so easily, as he still had three very powerful Pokémon left at his disposal.

Damian placed his hands on the railing, leaning forward. Not once had he been interested in seeing his fellow competitor's matches, but this one was proving to be quite entertaining. He started to wonder how Ash managed to prove himself so competent. The person he fought at the gates of Zerra Stadium was like a rookie, someone who didn't belong anywhere near the Master League. Was he having an off day? Had he somehow gained an unknown strength with his Pokémon over the past few days? Regardless, Damian was intrigued to see what else the kid had to offer.

"Mr. Ketchum, are you going to change Pokémon?" The referee looked over at the black haired trainer, seemingly surprised that Rhydon was still on the field.

"No." He replied. "I think he's got one more battle in him." He looked to his Pokémon. "What do you think, Rhydon?" The only reply his Pokémon gave him was a huff. "He agrees." Ash chuckled, looking back at the referee.

"What about you Paul? Have you picked your next Pokémon?"

"Yeah." He answered. "Torterra, I choose you!" Paul's loyal starter made a bellowing roar as he stomped his front right foot on the ground, sending a minor shockwave across the field. This was exactly what Ash was expecting. Torterra may have had an extreme advantage over Rhydon, but there was still one move that Rhydon had at his disposal that would make Torterra's advantage completely moot.

"Are both trainers ready?"

"Yeah!" The exclaimed in unison.

"Then let the battle begin!"

"Torterra, make it quick! Use leaf storm!"

"Rhydon, use horn drill!"

Paul's eyes went wide for a brief moment. If Rhydon could get to Torterra before he could use leaf storm, then this match would be over, and Ash would have him down two to six. He couldn't let that happen, there was absolutely no way he could allow for Ash to pull in a victory that quickly and that easily.

Rhydon's horn began spinning as he charged towards Torterra. As the Pokémon grew closer and closer, the tree atop Torterra's back began to glow brighter and brighter. It was hard to tell who would get their attack in first, but Rhydon was closing in fast, only a few meters away from his target. If the grass type was going to get his attack off, he needed to do it soon.

"C'mon Rhydon, you can do it!" Ash exclaimed, actually feeling like he might get the hit in.

"Attack now!" Paul shouted. "He's already weak, don't worry about charging for full power!" Obeying his master's command, Torterra unleashed the barrage of leaves he had stocked up, clouding the air in front of him like a swarm of green locust. A momentary look of shock filled Rhydon's eyes as he found himself surrounded by the razor sharp leaves, causing him to stop dead in his tracks. At this point, Ash knew it was over.

"Call off the attack!" The trainer pleaded. "I'll forfeit the round!" Not missing a beat, the referee waved the flag towards Paul, and ordered for the attack to be ceased. Once the cloud of leaves began to settle, Rhydon could be seen facedown on the field. The Pokémon may have been tough, but after all of the fatigue from his previous battles, as well as a double weakness to grass type attacks, there was just no way he could continue on.

Ash returned Rhydon to his Poké Ball, already knowing which Pokémon he'd send out next. Paul's Torterra was fresh, and he wouldn't want to swap him out _just_ yet. Keeping that in mind, Ash reached for the next Poké Ball and tossed it onto the field.

Infernape emerged from the red and white sphere, beating his chest as the flame atop his head began to flare. Paul couldn't help but take a moment to lament on how far his old Pokémon had come. He really did make a bad choice in handing him over to Ash. However, it was too late to fix that, and his main concern remained in the present.

He contemplated the idea of pulling Torterra off of the field, but decided against it. Torterra may have had a weakness to fire, but Infernape was just as weak to ground based attacks. One good earthquake and Ash's Pokémon would be finished.

Once the next round was signaled to begin, both trainers gave their Pokémon their orders. Ash called for Infernape to try to make the fight quick by plowing over Torterra with a flame wheel. The monkey then quickly curled up into the fetal position, and started to roll across the battlefield leaving a fiery trail in his wake.

Paul wasn't taking any chances though. Right off the bat he ordered for an earthquake to stop Infernape dead in his tracks. The gigantic turtle raised his two front legs and slammed them into the dirt, causing the entire arena to shake. From his feet a fissure began to travel across the field, and seemed to be zeroing in on Infernape. As the crack traveled across the field, it caused part of the ground to raise slightly, creating a jagged ramp, which quickly caught Ash's attention.

"Infernape, get out of the way of the attack, and use that ramp to get into the air!" The blazing wheel skidded to the side just enough to avoid the incoming fracture. Once Infernape crossed the threshold into the earthquake, he quickly started to tumble out of his flame wheel due to the violent shaking, but managed to get some air from the ramp before completely uncurling himself from the fetal position. "Now, use flare blitz!"

"No!"

Infernape shot forward like a rocket aimed directly for Torterra. Without the earthquake to hinder him, Infernape wouldn't have any trouble getting the attack in. His grass type opponent tried to fling a few razor leaves his way, but the searing hot flames surrounding him put an end to those before they could do any damage.

With a loud crash, the fire type collided with the grass type, sending a huge fireball into the air. The crowd let out a gasp, pulling themselves back in their chairs in hopes to get away from the heat radiating from the fire. To no one's surprise, when the fireball settled, Infernape stood proud over his defeated opponent.

"Ash!" Misty screamed from the stands. "You're doing great!"

"He sure is!" May replied, just as giddy. "Just two more Pokémon and he's got this!"

"Don't get excited." A rather bleak voice rang through their ears. Misty, May, and Drew looked to their right, seeing Damian take Ash's empty seat next to Misty.

"What are _you_ doing here?!" The redhead snarled, her vicious temper showing little patience for the trainer.

"I'm watching the match." He replied in a flat tone.

"Wanting to see how Ash is going to beat you if you make it to the finals?" Misty snapped.

"Hardly." He huffed. "Your boyfriend may be better than I first thought, but he's nowhere near as good as me."

"We'll see about that."

"He might not even win this battle, you know?"

The Cerulean Gym Leader raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? He's got Paul down to his last two Pokémon?"

"Why do you think he let a Torterra stay on the field when Ash brought Infernape out? Clearly he wanted to get Infernape weakened for when he brings out his sweeper."

"A sweeper?" May cocked her head, unfamiliar with the term.

"It's competitive lingo for a Pokémon that takes out its opponents before they even get a single move in." Misty answered. "Once they get going, they're almost impossible to stop."

"But they have to get going first." Damian added. "Which is why he left Torterra out on the field. Whatever his sweeper is, is more than likely weak to fire or fighting. So it's probably another grass type, or a steel type more than likely. Paul just wants to get Infernape weakened enough so he can bring out his sweeper, and then take the match."

Misty wanted to make a snooty retort, but he really did seem to know what he was talking about. The guy may have been a jerk, but she had to admit that he was a smart one. In a way she felt a little bit foolish for not seeing through Paul's plan as easily as Damian did, but her main concern was that Ash would see through it as well.

"Drapion, go!"

Ash narrowed his eyes, trying to think of a way to dispose of his next opponent as quickly as possible. Drapions were notorious for being tough to take down, especially with their lack of many inherent weaknesses. Double this up with their poison attacks, they could easily defeat their opponents by simply poisoning them and playing punching bag until the other Pokémon finally fainted from either poison or exhaustion, or both.

Infermape measured up his opponent. It seemed as though there were no weaknesses in his hard exoskeleton that he could exploit, which meant he'd probably have to rely on projectile attacks to take him down. This would be slightly problematic for a Pokémon that specialized in fighting.

Once the battle started, Infernape and Drapion circled around the Poké Ball emblem on the center of the field, not daring to break eye contact with the other. Ash and Paul watched on, trying to find an opening in their opponent that they could exploit, but there were none to be found.

Ash, being the ever bold trainer he was, made the first move. "Use flamethrower!" Infernape leapt back, and fired a barrage of searing hot flame at his opponent. The wave of fire covered the center of the field, consuming Drapion inside. Paul quickly gave an order, but over the roaring crowd and the sound of Infernape ferociously spitting out a stream of fire, neither Ash nor Infernape could hear what he said.

Once the flames had subsided, Drapion remained standing, but charred and burnt. Ash was actually quite surprised with how much damage he had done to the dark poison type. Though he still stood before him, Drapion's four pointed legs were shaking, clearly showing that he didn't have much energy left to spare.

Infernape began to proudly beat his chest and let out a bellowing cry. The crowd seemed to get a kick out of his show of pride, and began to applaud him for it. Even Ash cheered him on. However, after his cry, the Pokémon found himself slightly short of breath. Despite using three very powerful attacks since he was brought into the battle, he hadn't really exerted himself, and to be short of breath now didn't seem quite right.

He slowly looked down at his feet while taking in deep inhales and releasing heavy exhales. In his right leg he found a single prickle sticking out of it. Naturally, Infernape pulled it out with his bare hands, causing an excruciating pain to rip through the area around where the little needle was found.

"Infernape, what's wrong?!" Ash exclaimed worriedly as his Pokémon fell onto his knees, crying in pain.

"When you used your flamethrower, I had Drapion shoot a precision poison sting." Paul's tone was dead serious, not the slightest hint of humor or lightheartedness. "Your Infernape is poisoned, and it won't be long before he's out of the match."

Misty, May, and Drew all leaned forward, mouths agape and eyes wide. Damian on the other hand remained seated back and relaxed. "I told you." He murmured. "He's just trying to weaken Infernape so his next Pokémon can wipe Ash's team."

"What does Ash have to do to keep that from happening?" Misty turned to the trainer, getting a little worried that her boyfriend may indeed lose the match.

"The only thing he _can_ do. Find a Pokémon that can take the punishment and deliver it right back to him."

Infernape delivered another breath of fire, keeping his distance from Drapion. It had become quite clear that he was going to win this round, but it had also become quite clear that he wouldn't be lasting much longer himself. The poison that coursed through his veins was beginning to take serious effect, causing him to slow down more and more.

The rest of the match was more or less him and Ash just going through the motions. They'd use a flamethrower from a safe distance, and Drapion would shoot out a few poison darts that may or may not hit. If they did, the fire type would find himself feeling even more drained than before. But alas, with one more good flamethrower attack, Drapion finally succumbed to his wounds and fainted.

"Infernape." Ash called. "Why don't you come back to your Poké Ball? You're way too tired to fight."

Infernape shook his head, refusing to give up just yet. It was very much against Ash's better judgment, but he chose to honor his Pokémon's wishes. Perhaps Infernape could pull a quick victory against Paul's next Pokémon, and then that'd be the match.

Paul returned Drapion, and pulled out his final Poké Ball. "This is it, Ash."

"Yeah." He smirked. "Your last Pokémon."

"Don't get excited yet." He replied before tossing the ball onto the field. From the Poké Ball, a large, steel plated Pokémon emerged. Atop its head were two horns and a pointed nose guard. The bipedal Pokémon in a way reminded Ash of his Rhydon. Judging by its roar and fiery eyes, it was probably just as vicious as well.

"Aggron…" Ash sighed, shaking his head. Now he could see why Paul was trying to do nothing more than weaken Infernape. The last time the two went at it, Infernape was able to dispose of Aggron rather handedly. However Drapion's poison had caused Infernape to use up most of his remaining strength, so it didn't seem like a reenactment of their last battle was likely to happen.

The second the referee gave the go ahead, Ash ordered for Infernape to do the only possible thing he could to win the match. "Flare blitz, now!" Mustering up what remained of his power, the chimpanzee shot himself forward as a hot blue flame surrounded him. At first he shot forward and nearly full power. However, as he approached the center of the battlefield, his speed began to slow. By the time he reached Aggron, the blazing fire surrounding him had turned into nothing more than a mere spark of what it was.

Aggron made a backhanded swipe, sending Infernape flying. The fire type landed face first in the dirt, making a loud _thump_ as he landed. The Pokémon slowly tried lifting himself up. It was quite surprising even for Paul to see how strong willed his former Pokémon was. Despite being tired, poisoned, and beaten, Infernape was still able to make it back to his knees. However, Ash withdrew him before he got any further.

"I forfeit the round." Ash mumbled.

The referee waved towards Paul's side of the field, announcing his victory. Ash still had four Pokémon left though, and Paul only had one. Though Ash had the number advantage, the only Pokémon he had with him that had type advantage over Aggron was Totodile. Though Totodile was much stronger than he looked, Aggron could still more than likely take him down before he could even get his first move off. It was the best chance he had though.

The second Totodile hit the field, Aggron looked down at the little Pokémon with slight confusion. Even the audience was a bit amused by seeing the little Pokémon bravely stand its ground against the much larger and much more powerful Pokémon.

Once the referee started the match, Aggron still seemed a little bit hesitant to attack the little water type. Despite his vicious appearance, he had no intention of seriously hurting the Pokémon. However, he quickly regretted his hesitance when Ash ordered for Totodile to use a hydro pump.

A huge blast of water soaked Aggron, causing him to roar in pain. Even Paul was taken back by Totodile's surprising amount of power. This wouldn't last long though, as Aggron quickly retorted with a thunderbolt that shot out from the tips of his horns. The powerful zap hit Totodile square in the chest, sending the water type flying back, landing right next to Ash's feet.

The entire audience gasped at the ferociousness of the attack, including Paul, who hadn't ordered for Aggron to use a thunderbolt. Ash quickly knelt down next to Totodile to make sure he was okay. The trainer cried out to him, making sure he was getting some sort of response from the little water Pokémon. After calling his name a few times, Totodile slowly opened his eyes and gave Ash a weak thumbs up before going limp in his trainer's arms. Though he wasn't seriously hurt, he was certainly down and out. The referee saw this as well, waving yet another victory to Paul's Aggron.

"Uh oh." Ash said to himself. He had hoped that Totodile's surprise hydro pump would be enough to win the match, but Aggron seemed to be as strong as he looked, and if that was the case, then he was in some serious trouble. The only Pokémon he had left were Pikachu, Sceptile, and a very tired Pidgeot. Pidgeot was completely out of the question for this battle, which meant Sceptile and Pikachu were his only real choices.

The little yellow Pokémon nudged at Ash's leg, ready to step forward and battle. It was risky, but it was also his best shot now. At least Pikachu had a resistance to steel type attacks, and if anything, he had speed on his side.

"This isn't good." Misty said, biting down on her nails.

"You're right." Damian replied coldly, as he got up from his seat. "He's done." He turned to see Misty and May glaring at him, but he shrugged it off. "It's a shame, too. For a minute there, I thought he might actually be a decent trainer."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" The redhead shot out of her chair, glairing into his ice cold eyes.

"What it means is, your boyfriend is either too blind or too stupid to see through an obvious strategy. If he had any sense, he'd have switched out Infernape for that bigmouthed Totodile of his when Drapion came out." Without another word, Damian began walking away, leaving Misty to fume with her anger.

On the battlefield, Pikachu took a stance against Aggron, his tail sticking straight up, and his cheeks sparking. Ash and Pikachu's strategy was to hit with quick zaps of electricity, and keep moving so Aggron wouldn't catch him.

Once the battle started, Pikachu took off like a dash of lightning, using the wide battlefield to his advantage. He circled around Aggron with his intense speed, shooting quick bolts of electricity at him. The steel and rock type quickly began to grow frustrated with the annoying zaps and tried to cut off Pikachu when he was running behind him by smashing his tail into the ground. Pikachu skidded to a halt as Aggron's massive tail slammed into the ground just barely avoiding being crushed under it.

"Now that he's stopped, use headbutt!" Paul barked. Aggron was quick to comply with his master's orders. The steel type turned towards Pikachu and reared his head, trying to slam his hard scalp into the little Pokémon. The little electric type's nimbleness came into play quite well, as he leapt atop of Aggron's head, and ran along his back to avoid being hit.

"Now that he can't get you, shock him till he drops!" The trainer from Pallet commanded. Pikachu latched onto a plate on Aggron's back and began to emit powerful volts of electricity through his opponent's body. Each shock weighed more and more on Aggron than the last, causing him to go from bucking and roaring in frustration, to swaying and crying in desperation.

"Drop onto your back!" Paul shouted. Aggron obeyed, falling square onto his back with Pikachu still latched on.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried out. His loyal starter may have been able to take a beating, but being crushed by over seven hundred pounds of steel and rock wasn't something that he could just shake off.

As Aggron rolled over, Pikachu remained flat against the ground, sprawled out and unconscious. The referee looked at the downed Pokémon, waiting to see if there was any response, but there was none to be seen. "Pikachu is no longer able to battle, Aggron is the winner!"

Three Pokémon taken down in a row. Ash had never seen a comeback like this before. At first he was dominating the match, taking down Paul's Pokémon left and right. Now though, it was looking like they were going to be splitting hairs.

The black haired trainer ran up to the center of the battlefield and carried Pikachu back to his side of the arena. "You okay, Pikachu?" He asked as he carried him off the field.

"Pika pi." He replied weakly.

"Well, Chansey here will take good care of you, okay?" He said as he handed the yellow mouse to one of Nurse Joy's assistants, whom carried him to the sidelines where the nurse would treat him back to health while the Pokémon could continue to watch the match.

This was it, the last real chance he had to beat Aggron. If he couldn't pull the victory here with Sceptile, then Pidgeot would be his only hope, and with a double type disadvantage, a victory with Pidgeot was nearly impossible.

"Sceptile, I know I can count on you." He whispered to the Poké Ball before throwing it onto the field.

The grass lizard stepped forth, his trademarked twig pinched between his jaws. Sceptile had pulled off many huge victories before, one of them being against Tobias' Darkrai, which in of itself was a feat no one else had ever accomplished at the time.

"Scep!" He hissed, getting into a position to attack. Like Pikachu, Sceptile had speed, and if Ash wanted to stand a chance against Aggron he'd have to use that to his advantage as much as possible. Between Totodile's hydro pump and Pikachu's thunderbolts, Aggron was severely weakened. So all Ash was concerned with was just keeping Sceptile healthy long enough for him to take down the massive Pokémon with quick, light attacks.

"Let the battle begin!"

"Sceptile, start this off with leaf blade!"

"Aggron, harden!"

The lizard leapt forth, the blades of grass on his forearms glowing brightly as he sprung across the air. With a hard slash from both arms, he swung the razor sharp blades at the Pokémon. Aggron's hard skin withstood the attack though, his thick skin not showing any damage in the slightest.

Sceptile quickly leapt back, getting a good distance between him and his opponent. If Aggron were to get a single good hit on him, that would probably be it. But as long as he stayed far away, then he knew he was safe, more or less.

"Use iron head!" Paul shouted, wanting to end this match as quickly as possible. The steel and rock type charged forward, his head shimmering under the sun's light as he reared it. The massive Pokémon shook the ground with each stomp he made, yet Sceptile stood his ground, showing no fear.

"Wait for it." Ash said calmly, watching Sceptile's opponent grow closer and closer with each massive step. "Just about….." Aggron was closing in fast, he was just merely a few feet away from Sceptile. "Now! Use grass knot!" Two vines shot out from the ground, latching onto Aggron's feet, causing him to halt in his tracks and fall forward from all of the momentum he had picked up in his stampede. "Now, use brick break!"

"No!" Paul exclaimed, seeing how clear of a shot Sceptile had on his Pokémon.

Unable to defend himself in any way, Aggron took a hard blow from Sceptile square to his iron scalp. Once contact was made, the light in his eyes immediately went out as he faded out of consciousness. The referee slowly approached the sidelines, looking to see if there was going to be any responses from the steel rock type, but none were found.

"Aggron is no longer able to battle! So the winner of the match, and moving onto the final round of the Master League, is Ash Ketchum!"

Ash stumbled back and fell to the ground in relief, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow as the audience cheered him on for his victory. Though he seemingly had the battle at first, Paul made a huge comeback. Had it not been for the combined works of Sceptile, Pikachu, and Totodile, then Paul would have won the match for sure.

Once the trainer had gotten back onto his feet, he stepped towards the center of the arena, just as Paul did. "That was an awesome match!" He giddily exclaimed. "We need a rematch!"

"I thought this was our rematch?" Paul raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we need another one then!"

The purple haired trainer let out a sigh. "Well Ketchum, I guess you really are the better trainer." He said as he put his hand forth. Ash put his hand forth as well, exchanging in a friendly shake that Ash had hoped to share with Paul for quite a long time.

"You did great out there, Paul."

"You did even better." He replied before releasing himself from the handshake. "We'll meet again, Ash." He added as he turned around and made his way towards the arena's exit.

"Wait, you're leaving?"

"Yeah." He stopped and turned his head slightly towards Ash's direction. "I'm going to go see what this Johto region is all about."

"Oh, really?" Ash cocked his head slightly. "Well, if you run into Dawn, be sure to tell her I said hi!"

Paul turned his head away from Ash and made a very faint smile. "Will do."

Damian rested against the railing, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the metal pole as he watched Ash take his leave. "Huh…. The kid actually did it." He snickered. "Too bad he's come all this way just to lose." With that, Damian raised himself from the railing and made his way to the locker room. He had his own match to worry about, and he didn't plan on letting it be as dramatized as this one was.

* * *

Well... That was a long battle. If you got a bit tired of battling, don't worry, the next chapter has very little of it, and is more character based. Basically all it's going to be is buildup for the final round of the Master League, and man is it going to be good.

It's kinda weird honestly. This final round of the Master League is a battle I've been looking forward to writing for months and months now. It's so strange that it almost here... And fear not, this story doesn't end with the Master League, there's still some more things to cover and resolve afterwords... And let's not forget the planned sequel.

Oh, and regarding the sequel, I'm going to let you guys know this now. Though it will be a "sequel" it will still be posted under this story. The reason for that is because I don't want to put off new readers by getting them interested in a story that requires you to read a 40 to 50 something chapter story before hand. I'd much rather just have a 70-80 chapter story so that way new readers won't be put off from reading this story in its entirety.

That said, it's still going to be built like a sequel. The tone will be much more serious (not overly dark, but not as lighthearted as I've made this story). The focus of the plot will be completely different, being focused more around Team Rocket. And also it'll be structured more so as a well developed story in of itself, branching off from this story.

Anyways, the next chapter should be posted within a week. If it's a few days late, then I'm sorry, but I will get it to you all as soon as possible.

See ya!


	37. Doubts

So yeah, I'm a bit late on this update. I got caught up in some other things, one of which being a Pokémon Tabletop RPG. It's called Pokémon Tabletop Adventures, and it was made by some of the geniuses on 4chan. If you are at all interested in tabletop RPGs like D&D or Pathfinders, or just really into Pokémon, you should check it out. It's pretty awesome.

Onto the story though, not too much happening, just buildup. Hopefully the next chapter will be up before too long, I'm going to say within the week for the optimistic, and before the end of next week for the pessimistic.

Well, enjoy!

* * *

"And Rampardos goes down!" Mary exclaimed after Damian's Armaldo delivered a powerful X scissors to the charging dinosaur. The battle had been fairly even all throughout. Damian was down three, while Chase was now down by five. Despite the numbers disadvantage, Chase had given his opponent quite a run for his money over the course of their previous battles. However he was well aware that this may prove to be a moot factor considering that Damian had yet to bring out his monster of a Typhlosion yet.

"Next victim?" Damian sneered, a malicious smile spread across his face. It was rather unsettling to see him make any expression outside of his cold, blank stares. It seemed that as the battle continued on Damian had slowly started to grow more and more maniacal. Not just in expression though, but in the ruthlessness of his commands, and the looseness of his posture. It was as if he was turning into a different person. Even his cold eyes had begun to light as though a spark ignited behind his pupils.

"You're confident." Chase replied, narrowing his eyes as he shot a look at his opponent.

"What could you possibly have? Unless you've got a Lugia in that last Poké Ball, this match is over!"

Chase smirked, reaching for his final Poké Ball. "It may not be a Lugia, but I've still got something that'll beat you!" He tossed the red and white sphere forward, unleashing a towering Garchomp onto the field. The entire audience let out a harmonious cheer for the pseudo legendary when he took the field.

Damian frowned slightly, regaining his composure as well as his posture. "Alright, maybe this will be a little bit of fun." He paused to take a deep breath. "Show me what you've got then!"

The referee waved for the match to begin, and both trainers didn't waste a second to get their first orders in. Damian commanded his Armaldo to swipe the pseudo legendary with a metal claw, while Chase shouted out for Garchomp to use his flamethrower on the bug type.

The giant bug used his rock-like body to soak in most of the blow, and then proceeded forward with his attack. Before he could get the first swing in though, Garchomp quickly shot into the sky, not allowing for his adversary to get the hit in.

"Garchomp, use stone edge to rip that Armaldo apart!" The magnificent dragon remained floating in midair as he slowly raised his right claw, causing sharp and jagged rocks to tear themselves out of the ground and began levitating in the air.

Damian cursed under his breath, as he knew Armaldo was far too slow to move out of the way. Dozens of rocks shot toward the bug type, cutting into his skin and knocking him off of his feet. Had he not been so fatigued from his previous battles, he may have been able to continue on. That was not the case though, as Armaldo was completely unconscious before he even hit the ground.

"Armaldo is no longer able to battle! Garchomp is the winner!"

"Wow!" Ash exclaimed. "Damian only has two Pokémon left, and Chase's Garchomp doesn't even have a scratch on it!"

"He might actually beat him!" Misty added, in aw over how close the match was turning out to be.

"Next victim." Chase snickered mockingly.

Damian shot a death glare at his opponent. If his eyes were knives, Chase would have been bleeding. "Just wait." He growled. "We'll see who the next victim is." Clutching onto the next Poké Ball, Damian flung it onto the field, freeing the Typhlosion that had become quite notorious amongst the other trainers in the competition.

"Really?" Chase muttered. "You're going to use a Typhlosion against a Garchomp?" He wasn't the only one who noticed this poor choice in Pokémon, as the referee seemed quite taken back by his choice as well. Even Bill and Mary couldn't help but comment on his unwise decision.

Damian's sly smile returned. "Yes." The look Damian threw was so unsettling that even the referee felt shivers run down his spine as he signaled the start of the match. Chase wasn't completely immune to it either. Even he felt a sense of dread course through his body like a poison. Something about that man's personality just instilled uneasiness.

"Typhlosion, use flame wheel!" The fire type rolled up into a ball and began storming his way across the field, fire blazing in the trail he left behind.

"Garchomp, catch him!" Chase commanded. Without any fear or hesitation, Garchomp grabbed onto the spinning fire type with his two hook-like claws. Yet Typhlosion continued spinning in place, causing laps of fire to continue shooting out from the Pokémon. The ground and dragon type remained relatively unfazed by this though. "Now throw him in the air and use aqua tail!" Using all of the strength he had, Garchomp tossed his opponent into the air, and spun around as a coat of water covered his finned tail.

"Solar beam!" The entire audience as well as Chase raised their eyebrows, surprised by Damian's command. The Johto starter uncurled himself in midair and shot forth a beam of solar powered energy, not even having to take time to charge the attack.

Completely unsuspecting of the attack, Garchomp roared out in pain as the brilliant blast of energy engulfed his entire body. Once the smoke cleared Garchomp still remained standing, though slightly scratched up.

"How did you do that?!" Chase exclaimed. "He didn't even have to charge the solar beam?!"

Damian's sadistic appearance began to return. "I've trained my Typhlosion to channel the heat generated in his body into his solar beam attacks. He can shoot them all day and never have to soak in any sunlight!"

Ash and Misty's jaws dropped. Never before had they ever seen a Pokémon pull off a feat like that before. Sure, they'd seen fire types use the dual sunny day and solar beam combination, but never had they seen a fire type actually power a solar beam with its own body heat.

"Okay," Chase smirked. "I'll give you that one. That was pretty clever. But that Typhlosion is still weak to rock attacks! Garchomp, use stone edge again!" The dragon raised both his arms this time, summoning even more jagged edged rocks than before. "Take this!"

"Use wild charge!" Typhlosion began rushing forward, sparks emitting all around his body. Chase cocked his head to the side, confused by his choice in attacks. He knew Damian was too smart to forget that Garchomp was immune to electric attacks, so he couldn't help but wonder what his opponent was planning.

As Typhlosion charged forward, he ran head on into the rocks shooting towards him. That's when Chase figured out his plan. Each shard that came anywhere near Typhlosion was instantly shot away by a bolt of electricity. It was acting as his own shield of sorts, protecting him from Garchomp's stone edge.

"Nice try, but you're still running head on into a brick wall! Garchomp, use dragon rush!" The ground and dragon type shot forth as a blue aura surrounded him. He was charging head on into Typhlosion, and with his immunity to electricity, taking down his opponent would be all too easy.

"Dig underground!" Using his agility, Typhlosion made a feral pounce, and burrowed under the battlefield. Garchomp quickly came to a halt, and contemplated leaping into the hole with him and chasing his opponent down. However, since he received no order from his master, he decided against it.

"He's going to have to come out eventually." Chase spoke, not a shed of worry in his tone. "And when he does, Garchomp is gonna finish him."

"Who said Typhlosion is coming up?" The fair haired trainer's crooked smile began to return. "Eruption!" The ground under Garchomp began to grow hot, and the dirt itself started to dissolve into magma as a geyser of fire shot out from below, leaving Garchomp in the very center of the inferno.

"No!" Chase had to cover his face, as the heat was far too hot for him to even look directly into. Damian on the other hand just kept his twisted smile, his eyes wide with malicious glee as he stared into the erupting blaze. Once the fire died down, Chase as well as the rest of the audience returned their attention to the field to see that Typhlosion had returned to the surface, and though weary, Garchomp still stood as well. "Garchomp, are you okay?!"

The Pokémon turned to his master, and gave a nod. The look of pain was clear in his eyes though. He may have been resistant to fire, but that blast was by far one of the most powerful fire attacks he'd ever taken the blunt of.

"Garchomp looks really hurt." Misty commented. "I don't think this going to go on much longer." Ash didn't reply, nor even acknowledge what she said. Instead he just leaned forward and intently looked on at the battle ensuing below.

"Alright, I've had my fun." Damian grumbled. "Finish it, Typhlosion!" The fire type's collar began to grow brighter and brighter as he charged up for one last attack. Garchomp was slow to respond due to his injuries, but Chase's commands were able to get him to react quickly enough.

"Stop him! Use a direct draco meteor!" The dragon planted his feet into the ground, and began charging up an attack as well. However, due to his injuries he couldn't get it to maximum power. The two Pokémon charged up their attacks, and unleashed everything they had left. Garchomp's draco meteor shot dead through the barrage of flame coming from Typhlosion, hitting the Pokémon square in the chest. He roared out in pain as the blast knocked him back, and then exploded into hundreds of smaller blasts, hurting him even further.

Garchomp on the other hand just had to brace himself for the incoming wall of flame. He shielded his face with his arms, and tried to tuck in slightly to keep his abdomen from getting too burnt. It wasn't enough though. The heat was so intense that it began to rip away chunks of his hard skin, and even leave some minor scarring on his epidermis.

Once the flames cleared, Garchomp lowered his arms weakly, looking at his downed opponent across the field. The referee was just about to call the round, but then he noticed motion on Damian's side of the field. With what little strength he had left, Typhlosion slowly lifted himself back onto his feet, limping slightly on his left foot.

Garchomp shook his head in disbelief. His opponent had to be in an incredible amount of pain, more than any other Pokémon could withstand and continue battling with. The dragon let out one final roar before falling forward from sheer exhaustion, landing facedown in the dirt.

"Garchomp is no longer able to battle!" The referee announced for everyone to hear. "So moving on to the final round of the Master League, is Damian!"

Half the audience started to applaud Damian's victory, while the other half remained silent, still speechless that his Typhlosion could still stand after that direct hit. Ash was among those in silence.

"Ash," Misty nudged him. "are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah." He mumbled, getting up from his seat. "I'm fine." He turned to her and paused to take a deep breath. "We should probably be getting back to the cabin."

The redhead looked over at their friends sitting beside them, and then back at her boyfriend. "Are you sure you're okay? You seem a bit…"

"I'm fine!" He barked, causing all three of his friends to jump back. After seeing that he startled them, the trainer took a second to take a deep breath and compose himself. "Sorry, I'm just a bit… On edge, that's all." Without another word, he turned around and started to walk off, presumably heading back to the cabin.

"What's wrong with him?" May inquired, peering over the gym leader's shoulder.

"What do you think?" Drew replied. "If you had to go against _that_, you'd be on edge too."

Misty narrowed her eyes as she watched Ash walk away. "I don't know." She added. "I'm going to go check on him." Without waiting for a response from the others, Misty got up from her seat and vanished into the crowd as she began following the black haired trainer.

"Ash!" She called through the mass of people, causing the trainer to stop and allow her time to catch up to him.

"Hey Misty." He replied as he started walking again. "Sorry for snapping at you like that."

"It's fine." The gym leader shrugged. "Just tell me what's bothering you?"

"Nothing's bothering me." He hastily spoke, also speeding up his pace.

"That's a lie."

He shot a look at her, but remained silent.

"I want to make you feel better, so can you just please tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong!" He shouted, stopping in his tracks and turning to face her directly.

"Quit saying that, Ash!" Misty shouted back. "I can tell something's wrong! So why don't you just tell me what it is so I can help you?!"

Releasing a heavy sigh, the trainer threw his hands up in the air. "Fine! You want to know what's wrong?!"

"Yes, of course I do!" Misty continued yelling, but only because Ash was.

"It's because I'm scared! There, are you happy now?!"

"Ash…" Misty's tone softened, somewhat relieved in a sense. Was he really that scared of losing to Damian? She thought he had concurred this fear already. Trying to make light of the mood, she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, I know you can win." She said in a perky tone.

He swatted her hand away from him, quickly turning away. "I'm not afraid of losing the battle." He mumbled. "I'm afraid of losing…." He stopped mid-sentence, and looked towards the Stadium's exit. "Misty, could you just give me some time to myself?"

"But Ash, I…"

"Please?"

The redhead was reluctant to leave him be, but she didn't want to push him any farther than she already had, not for the moment at least. "Alright." She sighed. "I'll be waiting for you in the cabin when you come back."

"Thank you." Ash turned away from her and headed towards the exit, leaving Misty standing there in the middle of this huge mob of people that they had undoubtedly gathered a lot of attention from during their little argument. She knew he'd come back when he was ready to talk, and when he did, she'd most certainly be there for him.

XXXXXXXXXX

After making it to a secluded beach, Ash slumped down in the sand, and looked off into the ocean. It was quiet. A nice place to think to himself and let all of his thoughts roam free. Both the good and the bad. After sitting there for nearly ten minutes, looking off into the sunset, he found himself in a near trance-like state. He was able to completely lose himself in thought, not having to think about the eminent battle that was to come the next day.

"Hey, kiddo." A gruff voice said to him. Ash could feel the footsteps shift the sand around him as the speaker stepped closer to him. He must have been a big guy, judging by the large amount of displacement of the tiny grains of rock and shells.

The trainer tuned to see who it was, being met by the familiar man who had helped save his life just less than a week ago. "Silver? W..what are you doing here?"

The man took a seat in the sand next to the trainer, mumbling and groaning as he got himself into a comfortable position. "I saw you mopin' over here, and just wanted to know what's wrong."

"You wouldn't understand." He replied.

"You'd be surprised by how much I understand." Silver snickered. "I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I've seen and done about everything there is to do."

"Even if it involves a girl?"

The older trainer sighed, and leaned back slightly. "Yeah." He said plainly. "Is this about that Waterflower girl?" Ash didn't verbally reply, but instead nodded. "You two seem happy to me." Silver shrugged. "What's the problem?"

"I'm scared that if I lose tomorrow, then it just won't work out." The black haired trainer answered as he ran his finger along the sand. Normally he wouldn't feel so open to telling things like this to someone who was practically a stranger to him, but he needed to get this off of his chest, and Silver seemed like someone who was genuinely willing to listen.

"Now why might you think something like that?"

"Because," He murmured. "if I lose tomorrow, then Misty is going back to Cerulean, and I'm going to be halfway across the world to Unova." He stopped running his finger along the sand, looking at the abstract image he had drawn. "I just don't think it'll work out."

"Oh, that's just stupid." Silver's response was blunt and to the point, not holding back any punches.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ash glared at the man sitting next to him, nearly biting his lip to keep himself from lashing out at him.

"You think a little distance is gonna put a wedge between you two?" He didn't give Ash time to answer before continuing. "My old girl just never could get into Pokémon training like I did, and even then she was always there waiting for me to come back when my journey was over."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Are you still with her?"

Silver took a deep breath, seemingly withholding his answer. "That's not what this is about." He replied, obviously not wanting to dwell on it. "The point is, if she really cares about you, then she _will_ wait for you."

The trainer looked up at Silver, hope beginning to slowly fill his eyes "You really think that?"

"Kid," Silver placed a hand on Ash's shoulder. "she jumped onto an airship filled with Team Rocket thugs just to save your skinny rear. I think it's safe to say she'll wait a few months to see you if she has to." Ash's laugh brought a faint smile to Silver's face. "Besides, you ain't gonna have to worry about that anyways."

"Whaddya mean?"

"What do I…" Silver rubbed his temples and shook his head. "What are ya, dense? I mean you're gonna beat that Damian punk tomorrow!"

"I…." The trainer from Pallet looked back down at his abstract sand drawing, thinking back to all of the talking he'd been making over the past week. Sure he had talked a big game, but did he actually have the skill to back it up? "I don't think I can beat him."

"Why not?!" Silver shot up, seeming almost offended by his answer. "What makes him so much better than you?!"

"Well his Pokémon, for one!" He shot at the older trainer, standing up as well. "They're way too strong for me to handle!"

"Way too strong?" Silver seemed completely dumbfounded by Ash's lack of faith in himself. "Boy, I've been watching you since you started out in the Indigo League, and you've never been the type to just give up before the match even starts! So why start now?!"

"I don't know if you saw the match that I saw, but I watched his Typhlosion single handedly take down a Garchomp!"

"But a Pokémon's strength is only half the battle." Silver said in a much calmer tone. "It's the bond between a trainer and their Pokémon that make the difference between good trainers and great trainers." Ash silently looked up at Silver, letting him continue. "Do you think that little punk has a connection with his Pokémon? All he sees them as are weapons; you see them as your friends! Your Pokémon would walk a hundred miles for you if you asked em' to! They'd push themselves beyond their very limits for you! But his Pokémon don't even bother with trying to reach theirs!" Silver placed both of his hands on Ash's shoulders, looking him dead in the eyes. "You have what it takes to beat him! You just need to realize that you don't just need sheer power to beat him!"

"Are you sure?" Ash seemed a bit shaky in his response.

"If you don't believe me, you can battle me right now to see if you've got the heart it takes to win."

"I..I don't know." The black haired trainer murmured. "All I've got with me right now is Sceptile."

"Great!" Silver exclaimed. "I've got an Arcanine!"

Ash threw a dirty look at Silver. "That's not exactly fair."

"What's the matter, Ash. Are ya too chicken to fight me?"

The look alone that Ash shot at Silver was more than enough to answer his question.

XXXXXXXXXX

Misty leaned back in the patio chair with Pikachu snuggled up in her lap. Nightfall had come hours ago, and Ash was still nowhere to be found. She was beginning to worry. She had started to regret holding back from chasing after him though it wouldn't have done her any good. It was clear that Ash needed to talk to someone about whatever his problem was, but it was also clear that she was not the person he needed to talk to, otherwise he would have just spilled his guts to her the first time she brought up that something was bothering him.

Her eyes were beginning to grow heavy as the sound of the waves crashing against the beach lulled her to sleep. However, she endured, and forced herself awake. The redhead absolutely refused to go inside until Ash got back. She wasn't going to rest until she knew he was back safe and sound, and had also received a proper scolding from her for leaving her worried like this

The sound of the waves began drifting through her head again, causing her eyelids to shut once more. The need for sleep had taken over, and despite how strong willed she was, her body just wouldn't let her stay awake any longer… Until she felt Pikachu's ears shoot up.

The gym leader looked down at the electric mouse as he raised his head up, looking down the beach for his trainer. Misty looked up as well, spotting a familiar silhouette approaching her. The redhead got up from her chair and walked down the patio steps, letting her bare feet come into contact with the soft sand.

"Ash!" She shouted as he grew closer to her. "You better have a good reason for being gone so long! I was really worried about yo-" Before she could even begin to scold him, she was silenced as he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly against him. At first she was a bit taken back by this, but after a brief moment began to feel comfort in his grasp.

"Misty." He whispered into her ear.

"Yeah, Ash?"

"I want you to know that no matter how far away from each other we are, I'll always come back to you."

Misty's eyes went wide as they began to water ever so slightly. Ever since the prospect of Ash having to go to Unova entered her mind, she felt an unending fear that he'd forget about her and move on. To hear these words from him made her feel like the weight of the world had been taken off her shoulders. "And I'll be waiting for you."

Ash leaned back a little bit, and looked into Misty's aqua green eyes. The way they shimmered under the moonlight made him feel a faint fluttering in his heart. The two leaned in closer to one another, allowing their lips to touch, and they shared a deep kiss, letting the entire world around them vanish into nothingness. All that seemed to exist was just the two of them, sharing a momentary embrace. Once Ash leaned away, the world began to reform, the environments around them becoming more and more visible.

"You don't have to worry about that though." Ash smirked. "Because tomorrow, I'm gonna beat Damian!"

A smile slowly began to form across Misty's face. "I know you will!" She replied joyously, tightly wrapping her arms around him and pulling herself as close as she could to her boyfriend. She began to bury her head into his chest, and started to speak into his jacket. "From the day me and you held off Team Rocket at that Pokémon Center in Viridian City, I knew that there was something special about you. Even after the Indigo League and The Silver Conference, I knew that you were going to do something great one day, and I know that tomorrow you're going to beat Damian, and then…" She paused for a moment, letting herself nuzzle into his torso. "And then you're going to beat one of the champions and become a true Pokémon Master."

"Misty…" The trainer from Pallet started to feel his heart race. To hear this from Misty was far more inspirational than Silver's pep-talk, or the victory he and Sceptile had against him afterwards. This was what he _really_ needed to hear. To hear the girl he cared about more than anything else tell him that he _could_ do it. He _could_ win it. He _would_ be a champion, and he wasn't going to let her down.

The two held each other closely as the sound of waves crashing against the beach sang through their ears like nature's melody. They could have stayed there forever, never letting go of the other. Even after all of his journeys and accomplishments, Ash had never felt this kind of happiness before. It was a happiness that he couldn't describe, a warmness in his stomach, and a slight heaviness in his heart. It was something strange and alien to him, but at the same time something he welcomed with open arms. Though he wasn't entirely sure what it was, he was almost positive that it was love.

XXXXXXXXXX

The final round of the Master League had gathered a massive crowd of some of the most illustrious and important figures in the world. Presidents of three separate regions were in attendance, including Zerra's own. All of the Elite Four members from all the regions were there as well, sitting amongst a special section in the front row reserved solely for them. Only two gym leaders had attended though, one being Erika of Celedon City, and Volkner of Sunyshore City. Blaine was seen mingling around the crowd as well, but he had since retired his title as a gym leader.

Ash took in a deep breath as he and Pikachu did a few stretches in the locker room. Ever since he woke up that morning, his heart had been racing at a mile a minute. It was so surreal to finally be _here_ to be in _the_ final round of the Master League Tournament. This was without a doubt the biggest day of his life, and in just a few minutes he'd be going head to head with one of the most powerful opponents he'd ever faced in his life, though that wasn't going to be enough to stop him.

Since only one tournament round was being held, the majority of the day was filled with exhibition matches featuring members of the various Elite Fours, a few of the tournament losers who had opted to stay for the finals, and a three on three match between Cynthia and Steven Stone that Ash had to regretfully miss due to being too busy focusing on his training.

The sun had started to set, and the field was being repaired of any damages that it had sustained over the course of the day from the previous battles, while Mary and Bill provided color commentary for the audience as they awaited for the final match of the Master League to commence.

Ash took in another deep breath as he exited the locker room, heading towards the entrance to the arena. Once there, he and Pikachu waited patiently for the signal to step onto the battlefield. This was it, the moment he'd been waiting for was just around the corner.

On the other side of the arena, Damian rolled down the sleeves on his trench coat which he had pulled up earlier due to the warm weather. He wasn't going to allow for the audience to see all the scars that littered his body, even if it meant sacrificing his own comfort. If all went well though, he was sure he wouldn't even have to break a sweat.

The lights began to dim down, turning the spotlights towards both entrances. Realizing this was his signal, Ash and Pikachu stepped forth, being greeted by thousands of screaming fans. The flash of cameras blinded his eyes, and the booming sound of their shouts caused Ash to feel a little bit lightheaded. After a moment of exposure though, he was quickly able to shake it off.

The trainer from Pallet let out one final exhale as he stepped into the battle box. He looked to the other side to see Damian standing in his battle box, seemingly showing no signs of emotion whatsoever. His eyes were fixated on Ash, an ice cold fire burning behind them. Ash would have been lying if he said he wasn't intimidated by his cold stare. He may have been confident that he could pull the victory, but he wasn't stupid. He knew that Damian was a force to be reckoned with, and if he wanted to win, he and his Pokémon would have to give a hundred and ten percent.

As the referee stepped forward, the audience began to quiet down. This referee wasn't like the ones Ash had seen previously. He was an older man, wearing a solid black shirt and a black cap. After getting a good look at him, he was able to place him. He was one of the Pokémon League's most widely recognized officials. Ash almost felt ashamed for not remembering his name.

"This is the final round of the Pokémon League's Master League Tournament." His voice echoed through the microphone, booming through the stadium. "This is a full battle, and the first trainer to defeat all six of their opponent's Pokémon will be declared the winner." He looked towards both Ash and Damian. "Is that clear?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Are both trainers ready?"

"Yes."

"You better believe I'm ready!"

The referee couldn't help but smirk at Ash's enthusiasm. "Then, it gives me great pleasure to let the final round of the Master League Tournament to begi-"

"Ash! Ash! He's our man! Beat that punk to a pulp!" Ash, Damian, the referee, as well as everyone in attendance turned to see three individuals standing atop the barrier in cheerleader outfits. One had long scarlet hair, and the other shoulder length blue hair. The third was a short cat-like Pokémon. Within seconds security snatched them off of the barrier and carried them away.

"You know those freaks?" Damian sneered at the trainer from Pallet.

He simply shook his head. "No. Just some crazy fans, I guess."

The referee smirked once again before continuing with signaling the start of the match. "Then let the battle begin!"

* * *

For anyone disappointed that I didn't show the entirety of Damian and Chase's fight, I'm sorry, but to show the entire thing would distract from the story at hand. I showed just enough to get the point across I was trying to make. As for Ash and Silver's battle, it was one of those battles that you knew Ash was going to win anyways, and all in all it just didn't have too much bearing on the plot other than to get Ash out of his funk, so that's why I cut it out. If you don't like that, then I implore anyone out there to write out their interpretation of that battle and send it to me. If I think it's good enough, I'll put it in this chapter and credit you for it.

Anyways, I don't think I have to tell you what the next chapter is going to be about. As soon as I publish this chapter, I'm going to start working on it, and try to get it to you as soon as I can, whilst retaining a high quality.

Till then, see ya!


	38. Final Round: Awakening The Beast

Here it is... The Final Round of The Master League. It took me a while to get this done, but its here. Without any further delay...

Enjoy...

* * *

"Get ready kid. This is going to be quick." Damian sneered from across the stadium, an evil smile stretching across his face.

"We'll see about that!" The black haired trainer shot back, reaching for his first Poké Ball. "This won't be like last time, I can promise you that!"

His fair haired opponent ran his fingers through his long hair, pushing a few strands out of his eyes. "Good, because I want to watch you squirm!" In one motion, he reached for the first Poké Ball on his belt and tossed it onto the field, unleashing the disaster Pokémon, Absol.

Ash flung his Poké Ball onto the field as well, bringing forth his only dragon type Pokémon, Gabite. The landshark let out a vicious roar as he brandished his claws. "You've got this, Gabite!" Ash cheered on from the side. "Show Damian what you can do!" The dragon hoofed his feet into the ground as he prepared for a dragon rush. On the other side of the field, Damian gave Absol an order to hold her ground.

Gabite shot forth as a blue aura surrounded him. Absol stood strong though, and showed no signs of backing down. Ash clenched his fist, well aware that Gabite could be falling right into a trap, but he had seen that Absol's speed before, and if he let her get momentum, he wasn't sure if he would be able to slow her down.

As soon as Gabite crashed into the dark type, the Pokémon firmly planted her feet into the ground, managing to hold back the dragon as he charged forth with incredible speed and power. Her claws marked into the ground, dragging the dirt as she was pushed back. Despite this, she still showed little reaction to Gabite's attack.

"Whoa." Ash murmured. "That's one tough Pokémon."

"Now, payback!" Damian commanded.

Ash gulped as he watched his opponent become shrouded in an aura of darkness, and the horn atop her head began to glow purple. Gabite stepped back from the dark type, and seemed to be waiting for a command from his trainer. "Gabite!" He shouted. "Watch ou-" Before he could even get the out the order, Absol leapt forth and smashed her horn square into Gabite's red belly, knocking him off his feet and sending him flying back to the center of the arena. Fortunately for him, he was able to regain his sense of balance before hitting the ground, and landed on both feet.

The trainer from Pallet looked across the field to see Damian's eyes beginning to widen in a look of sick pleasure from unleashing pain on his opponent's Pokémon. Ash couldn't help but question the sanity of his opponent, wondering how truly sadistic this man was.

"Now, pursue him!" The cat-like Pokémon sprinted forward with dashing speed, leaping great distances as she zeroed in on Gabite.

"Counter with brick break!" As the dark type made a feral pounce onto the ground dragon, Gabite lunged forward with one of his hook claws, delivering a powerful punch square to the Pokémon's exposed torso. Absol screamed out in pain as she flew back, but landed on her feet without any issue.

Damian growled as he watched his Pokémon pant and catch its breath. "Now's not the time for that!" He snarled, causing Absol to quickly snap back into the battle. "Use ice beam and end this!" The dark type lowered her front and raised her rear, as her tail shot straight up like a territorial feline. Then after taking in a deep inhale, the Pokémon opened her mouth and shot out a beam of frost, using Gabite's red belly as a bulls-eye.

"Gabite, get out of the way!" Ash shouted, knowing all to well what this move was capable of doing. The dragon shot straight up into the air, letting the blast shoot past him and hit the barrier behind him. Everyone in the audience let out a collective sigh of relief, well aware that a direct hit would have ended the match.

"Be careful Ash!" Misty shouted. "We don't need anymore close calls like that!"

Ash had to come up with a counter, and fast. If he didn't put his opponent on defense, he was certain she'd try the ice beam again, and the next time Gabite might not be so lucky. "Gabite, use sandstorm!" The dragon's eyes began to glow a bright blue as he raised his claws up, causing a whirlwind of sand to overtake the field.

Absol's eyes narrowed as her visibility became more and more clouded by the dirt and rocks flying through the air, while her trainer made a scowl of disapproval. "Absol, don't let this stop you, use detect to zero in on him!" The dark type looked into the sandstorm, ignoring any of the pain from the sandstorm itself, and focusing solely on the mist of dirt in front of her. After staring into it for a moment, she could see the faint outline of her opponent rushing towards her. Using her incredible reflexes, she leapt into the air, meeting Gabite halfway. Before her opponent could deliver his attack, She smashed her horn square into his exposed side.

Gabite stumbled back a bit, but quickly composed himself. They were in the dead center of the field, and neither trainer could actually see their Pokémon through the sandstorm. All they could do until the storm subsided was fend for themselves and use their instincts to win the fight.

Absol made another leap towards Gabite, which he was easily able to sidestep. Using her momentary exposure, he took a swing at her back, causing her to arch her head back and howl in pain. She retorted by quickly turning around and trying to smash her horn into his stomach again. However, the sandstorm had slowed her down, and allowed Gabite to avert her attack once again.

Frustration started to set in with her as she continued to swing and swipe and claw at her opponent, only for him to shift to the side, step back, or even leap over her. Through all this frustration, she had begun to forget that she was still in the middle of a sandstorm, and that each time a big chunk of rock came crashing into her, she would become weaker and weaker.

As the storm began to subside, Gabite closed in on his opponent, and prepared a powerful dragon claw attack. However, the storm had cleared up just enough for Damian to finally see what was going on. Seeing the close proximity of his opponent's Pokémon, he quickly gave Absol an order.

"Ice beam!"

Before Gabite could strike her, Absol unleashed the powerful ice attack square into Gabite's stomach just as Ash finally regained his view of the battle. The dragon and ground type went flying back as the ice began to coat his skin in frost, landing square on his back and sliding across the dirt.

"Gabite!" The black haired trainer cried out to his Pokémon. "Are you alright?!" There was no response. The referee walked closer to the frosted Pokémon and assessed his condition. His eyes were shut and he wasn't moving.

Feeling that it was safe to call the round as Absol's victory, he started to step away from the Pokémon. Before he could get more than a few feet away though, Gabite's orange eyes shot open, much to both trainer's disbelief.

"Oh my goodness!" Mary exclaimed. "Gabite isn't finished just yet!"

"You've got to be kidding!" Damian growled. "There's no way he could have withstood that!"

"Maybe you shouldn't underestimate my Pokémon." Ash shot a sly look at his opponent. "Gabite, are you ready to battle?"

"Ga-bite!" He snarled.

"Great! Absol's weak from that sandstorm, so why don't you show her your draco meteor!" Gabite opened his jaws wide and began charging up for the powerful attack. Damian wasn't going to give him the chance though, and ordered for Absol to go in for a quick attack to stop him. However, Gabite still managed to get the attack off, and shot the meteor up into the air just as she slammed into him.

Absol looked up into the sky and watched as the ball of energy exploded into hundreds of smaller shards and came crashing to the ground. Due to being worn down from fatigue, she was unable to dodge the attack, and took the blunt of the rain of meteors. She managed to continue standing after the first and second shard hit her, but the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh were too much for her, and sent her into a state of unconsciousness.

"Absol is no longer able to battle!" The elderly referee said as he raised up the two flags. "Gabite is the winner!"

Up in the stands, Misty felt her heart skip a few beats. The first round was over and Ash had actually managed to pull the first win. It came at quite a cost though. Gabite was clearly hurting from the direct hit from Absol's ice beam. He was slouching slightly, and appeared to be breathing heavily. It was quite clear that if Ash kept him in, he wasn't going to make it through the next round.

Ash looked over at his tired ally, seeming a bit hesitant to let him stay on the field. However, the dragon seemed rather adamant in wanting to stay and continue battle, even throwing a look at his trainer as if to dare him to withdraw him from the field.

"You'd pull him if you know what's good for him." Damian smirked, throwing a rather passive aggressive glare at the young trainer.

"Hey!" He snapped. "I don't need you telling me what's best for my Pokémon!"

"Relax, kid." His opponent shrugged. "I just don't want you to start crying like a baby when your Pokémon end up like that girl's Scyther."

Ash felt a switch flip inside of him. "What?!" He exclaimed. "First nearly kill Scyther, now you're bragging about it?! You're sick, you know that!"

"Of course I am." He calmly replied. "Why do you think I'm such a great trainer? I don't hold anything back!"

"I'm going to take you down." Ash growled. "Pick your next Pokémon!"

Without giving him a vocal response, Damian withdrew Absol, who was still on the field, and tossed forth another Poké Ball. As the red and white sphere opened up, a large, purple, balloon shaped Pokémon emerged.

"And Damian sends out a Drifblim!" Bill announced as the ghost type started floating over the center of the field.

The trainer from Pallet tried to come up with a quick strategy for Gabite to use. Drifblim's ability to hover above the ground rendered Gabite's ground abilities completely useless. However, that still left him susceptible to rock based attacks. It wasn't much, but it was all he had going for him. Of course that was if Gabite could even get an attack off in his weakened state.

Seeing both trainers were ready, the referee signaled for the match to begin. The match started with Ash ordering for Gabite to use rock tomb, while Damian's Drifblim remained floating ominously above the ground.

"You can do this, Gabite!" Ash cheered as the dragon raised a large chuck of rock from the ground using his terrakinesis. "Now throw it!" With one swing of his arm, the boulder flew towards his opponent, all the while Drifblim remained completely motionless. Then just as the boulder was about to cash into him, Drifblim's eyes started to glow pink as he used his telekinetic powers to hold back the boulder. "W..w..what's going on?!" Ash exclaimed.

"It's called psychic powers, kid." Damian snickered. "Now bury that Gabite!" With one push of his mind, Drifblim shot the rock forward, sending it crashing into his already weakened opponent. As the boulder crashed into the ground, a tremor could be felt throughout the stadium. Ash cried out to his Pokémon in the hopes that he was still conscious under the pile of rubble. Much to his surprise, Drifblim used his psychic powers again to lift the large boulder off of the now unconscious Pokémon and placed it back in the ground where it had been ripped from.

"Gabite is no longer able to battle! Drifblim is the winner!"

_Well that was fast._ Ash thought, withdrawing Gabite. He felt he should have known better than to leave him on the field though, as it was clear that he couldn't go through another round of battle. The trainer thought through his options on Pokémon. Pikachu could easily bring down the giant balloon without much trouble, but he didn't want to risk one of his strongest Pokémon getting injured this early. Especially since Damian's notorious Typhlosion still hadn't hit the field yet.

"I think I've got _just_ the Pokémon for this." He grinned, reaching for another Poké Ball. "Mismagius, I choose you!" The witch-like ghost emerged from her Poké Ball, and began to prance around the field, joyous to finally get another chance to battle. At first the audience seemed a bit amused by her frilliness, but started to settle once Ash got her to calm down and focus on the task at hand.

"A Mismagius?" Damian nodded. "I didn't take you the type of person to have a ghost type."

"I'm full of surprises."

"Me too."

Ash started to frown. "Let's just get this over with."

Seeing both of them were ready, the referee waved for the third match to begin. Neither trainer wasted any time giving their orders either. Ash called for Mismagius to keep her distance and wait for an opening, while Damian ordered for Drifblim to take the offensive and bring her down with a shadow ball.

"Dodge it!" Mismagius quickly shot to the side, letting the crackling dark ball fly past her and crash into the wall. "Now counter it with your own!"

"Mismaaaaa…" She raised her sleeve-like arms, channeling her power into the black sphere. "gious!" She threw the ball forward, aiming directly for the yellow patch on Drifblim's face. The balloon Pokémon didn't even seem remotely fazed by the incoming attack, and simply swatted the attack away with one of his drape-like arms.

Mismagius and her trainer made an expression of disbelief as they watched the shadow ball shoot up into the orange sky and vanish as it faded into the distance. "How did you…"

"Like I said," Damian maliciously grinned. "I'm full of surprises. Now, blow that witch away with ominous wind!" Drifblim raised his drape arms and began circulating a powerful gust of wind with his fiendish powers. As the gust started to pick up, it sent Mismagius flying back, even blowing the hat off of Ash's head.

"Mismagius, you've got to get out of there!" The ghost squealed in pain as the ghostly energies of the wind engulfed her into its cold embrace. She was completely helpless to do anything at this point. She was caught in the whirlwind, and it would be only a matter of time until the foul energy sent her into a state of unconsciousness. Ash tried to assess the situation, trying to come up with some sort of way for her to escape her opponent's hold. "I've got it!" He exclaimed. "Mismagius!" The ghoul averted her eyes slightly, looking towards her trainer as the wind continued to rip away at her. "Turn this attack around on him with that move we learned! You know the one I'm talking about!" With a nod, Mismagius raised her arms as a ghostly chill filled the arena. Frost began to circulate around her as the wind started to calm.

"What are you doing?" The darkly dressed trainer narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what his Pokémon was up to. Before he could make light of the situation, the frost surrounding her quickly found its way to Drifblim, causing him to bellow in agony as the icy wind started to rip away at him. "You little…." Damian saw what he was doing, but he wasn't going to let it stop him from winning the battle. "Use will-o-wisp to melt the ice!" Drifblim hastily summoned two balls of fire, and channeled his power into the fiery spheres, using their heat to melt away the ice. "Now, throw them at Mismagius!" Using his psychic powers, Drifblim shot the two balls of fire at his opponent. Using her speed, Mismagius shifted in between the fireballs and narrowly avoided the attacks. At this point, Damian started to grow visibly frustrated. "Alright, fine! Enough games! Use shadow ball, and don't let up!" Drifblim raised all four of his arms, summoning a shadow ball over each of them. With a toss from each arm, he flung all four shadow balls at his opponent as she started floating towards him with great speed and haste.

The first one was easy to dodge, so was the second. The third proved slightly difficult, as it came much sooner than she expected. The fourth she avoided just by sheer luck. However, the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth ones that he charged while she wasn't looking were unavoidable.

"Mismagius!" Ash shouted. "Use protect!" The ghost quickly shielded herself in a green aura, causing the fifth shadow ball to bounce off, the sixth and seventh did the same, but caused a crack in the shield. The eighth completely shattered it though, and hit her dead on. With a squeal of pain, she tumbled back and landed on the ground, causing her cloth-like body to flatten against the ground.

At first Damian though he had won the match, but when he saw the ghostly figure start to move about, he knew it wasn't quite over yet. "Drifblim, use one more to finish her off!"

"Mismagius, thunderbolt!" Mismagius' eyes shot towards her opponent, a vicious glare staring into him as she slowly raised herself back into the air. An arc of electricity began to form between her invisible hands, much to the dismay of her opponent.

"Hurry up and finish her!" Obeying his master's command, Drifblim tossed the final shadow ball towards his opponent, hoping to finally finish her off. Ash's Pokémon quickly retaliated by shooting forth a bolt of electricity at the crackling ball of fiendish energy, quickly dispersing of it. Before Drifblim could react, she fired another bolt of electricity at him, hitting him square on the yellow patch across his face.

He bellowed and wailed in pain as the electricity coursed through the ghost and flying type's body, causing him to slowly deflate until he started to resemble Mismagius when she was flat on the ground. Once the giant balloon was completely deflated and incapacitated, the referee called the round.

"Drifblim is no longer able to battle, Mismagius is the winner!"

Damian clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. He hadn't expected to see such resilience from Ash and his Pokémon. Not that it mattered though. He had only been using his weakest Pokémon so far, and even then Ash was nearing the ropes.

He took a deep breath and exhaled as he returned Drifblim to his Poké Ball. Mismagius was hurt, but not enough for Ash to withdraw her. He shuffled through his options, looking down at each one of his Poké Balls, deciding upon which to use next. After taking a moment to think, he wrapped his fingers around the one closest to the front of his belt.

"Typhlosion, I choose you!" The furious fire type let out a bellowing roar as he lowered himself onto all fours. Ash gulped, well aware of how dangerous his opponent's Pokémon was. He knew that there was absolutely no way Mismagius could beat him in her current shape, but there was _one_ thing she could do to hinder him.

"Mismagius!" Ash called to her, causing the ghoul to curiously turn towards her master. "You know exactly what you need to do, and after that you can rest. I promise."

The Pokémon gave a nod before turning back to her adversary. Typhlosion was snarling and his collar flaring. As soon as the referee waved for the match to start, the fire type darted across the battlefield, leaving a trail of fire burning in his wake. Mismagius slowly closed her eyes and remained motionless as he grew closer and closer to her. Damian raised an eyebrow, seeing that something was off.

The raging fire type was within striking distance of the ghost when Mismagius opened her eyes, revealing a bright blue light emitting from them. Typhlosion skidded to a stop, blinded and weakened by the power generating from her.

"What's going on?!" Damian growled. Before his Pokémon could recompose himself, Mismagius shot a blue beam of light at the Pokémon, causing no apparent damage to him. The fire type roared in frustration and annoyance at the weak attack, and tried to retort with a blast of fire. When he opened his mouth to shoot a burst of flame though, he found himself unable to do anything more than a small puff. "Typhlosion!" His trainer roared. "What's happening out there?!"

His Pokémon reared his head to his master and threw a glare at him, irritated at both his loss of strength and his trainer's frustration with him. As he turned back to Mismagius, he saw her slowly shut her eyes and descend to the ground where she laid motionless.

"Great job Mismagius!" Ash praised, causing her to open her eyes once more and make a faint smile before fainting.

"Mismagius is no longer able to battle, Typhlosion is the winner!"

Despite winning the round, Damian was still confused as to what just happened. Typhlosion appeared weak and feeble, as though most of his strength had been sucked away from him. "What did you do, Ketchum?" He sneered.

"Mismagius just left Typhlosion a little memento, that's all."

"Memento…." The fair haired trainer couldn't help but start to laugh. "I got to give it to you, Ketchum, you _do_ know how to battle. Too bad it's not going to do you any good!" He pulled back out Typhlosion's Poké Ball and returned the Pokémon, withholding him for a latter battle. "Alakazam, go!"

Up in the stands, Misty bit down on her lower lip. "Mismagius would've been really useful right now."

"No kidding." May sighed, resting her head in her palms. "Does Ash have anything else that can fight psychic types?"

The gym leader shook her head. "No. Not unless he has Heracross with him."

Ash started weighing his options. He still had four Pokémon on reserve, but none of them had an inherent advantage over psychic types. However, he did have one Pokémon that he felt might just be able to cut it. The same Pokémon that was able to beat Tobias' strongest Pokémon. "Sceptile, I choose you!"

The lizard hit the field with grace as he emerged from his Poké Ball, standing in a battle ready position, already fired up for the fight. This is what Ash needed. He needed for his Pokémon to be at their very best, and Sceptile's stance was more than enough to show that he was.

"That lizard isn't going to help you." His opponent murmured.

"We'll see about that!" Ash refused to let his hollow words pierce through him. If Damian thought that Sceptile couldn't make the cut, then he'd have to prove it. "Show me what you've got!"

"Gladly."

Once the battle began, both trainers gave their Pokémon their respective orders. Alakazam opened up the round by clenching onto his spoons and shooting forth a powerful psybeam at his opponent. Using his nimbleness and agility, Sceptile leapt out of the way as he made his advance towards his opponent.

The leaf blades on his arms began to grow a dark shade of purple as he grew closer and closer. One good hit from a night slash, and Alakazam would be finished. However, Damian's ever so watchful eye caught this before Sceptile could get anywhere near striking distance.

"Alakazam, use reflect!" The psychic type quickly raised his spoons up, creating a wall of light in front of him just as Sceptile leapt into the air and came down with his night slash attack. The dark blade crashed against the barrier with so much force that it caused Alakazam to slide back as his feet dug into the dirt. Seeing that his attack wasn't getting through the barrier, Sceptile pushed himself back from the psychic wall and did a perfect back flip, landing in the center of the battlefield.

"Nice try, Sceptile!" Ash cheered from the battle box. "Go for it again!"

"I don't think so." The evil smile became even more apparent on Damian's face. "Disable that attack!" With a gleam of Alakazam's eyes, the dark aura around Sceptile's leaf blades vanished, ending his attack before he even had a chance to use it.

"Oh no!" Ash exclaimed, realizing that his advantage had been completely stripped from him.

"Use psychic!" Not giving Sceptile a second to react, Alakazam's spoons began to violently bend as he sent forth a powerful wave of psychic energy towards the grass type, sending him flying back to Ash's side of the battlefield.

Using his superior acrobatic skills, Sceptile managed to land on his feet, but not as gracefully as he would have liked. The lizard panted, looking towards the other side of the field, where Alakazam remained standing, staring into Sceptile's very soul with his intense expression. Then within the blink of an eye, Alakazam shot forward with tremendous speed that rivaled even Sceptile's. Ash was caught off guard as well, not fully able to gauge what was going on until the psychic type was right on top of his Pokémon.

"Finish him off with a psybeam!" Alakazam's spoons began to emit a blue light as his eyes began to glow the same shade as well. At point blank range, the attack would most certainly take Sceptile down, and Ash knew he had to react fast if he wanted to win the round.

Seizing the moment, the trainer from Pallet was able to quickly make light of the situation for himself. He took into account how close Alakazam had placed himself, and how wide open he was for an attack. In hindsight, Ash felt that this was quite a foolish move on Damian's part, as it left him prone to such a round changing attack.

"Sceptile! X-scissor, now!"

Damian gasped, realizing that he had completely forgotten that Sceptile had more than just dark type moves to counteract psychic Pokémon. The grass lizard used both of his razor sharp blades to slice the psychic type with the bug attack, knocking him back a few feet, giving Sceptile some distance between them.

Alakazam shook his head, weakened from the super effective attack. Had his opponent not been weakened from his psychic attack, he could have easily hit with enough force to knock him out cold. Fortunately for him, that was not the case.

"Alakazam, Sceptile is still dazed, use this time to recover!" Heeding Damian's words, the Pokémon began channeling his psychic energy into healing his wounded body, while Sceptile got his bearings straight. At least that's what Alakazam thought was going to happen.

His pointed ears caught Ash's voice giving his Pokémon a command, and the attack he called out sent shivers throughout his body. He could see Sceptile in his peripheral vision dashing towards him with the leaf blades on his arms once again glowing in a dark purple aura. Just before the attack hit, Alakazam realized that between getting hit with x-scissor and taking a moment to recover from his wounds, he had broken his concentration over disabling Sceptile's night slash.

Using the last second he had until the attack's inevitable hit, Alakazam managed to fire a last second psybeam at his opponent, hitting him square in the torso just as Sceptile's dark powered leaf blade slashed across his face.

Both Pokémon went flying back to their respective sides of the field as each attack made contact. Sceptile landed square on his back at Ash's feet. He attempted to get up, but found that he didn't have the strength to continue on. On the other side of the field though, Alakazam laid at his master's feet, being berated by Damian to get up.

"Alakazam!" He snarled. "Get on your feet, now!"

Ash watched on as the trainer yelled at his Pokémon. It was quite clear that Alakazam was in no shape to battle, but Damian just kept on pushing him. The trainer almost felt the need to go over and punch his opponent square in the teeth right then and there for acting so cruel to his own Pokémon.

Despite it all though, Alakazam forced himself back onto his feet, albeit bruised and beaten. Ash looked closely at the Pokémon, seeing eyes slowly begin to droop down. During the battle they were intense and ruthless. Now though, they just looked sad.

"Sceptile is no longer able to battle!" The referee announced, breaking Ash's concentration on Damian's Pokémon. "Alakazam in the winner!"

Ash returned Sceptile to his Poké Ball, but his main concern was with Alakazam. The Pokémon looked as though he had lost all will to continue fighting. He just stood there idly, looking down at his feet. The trainer from Pallet turned to Pikachu, and gave him a silent nod. Though he didn't say anything, his expression was enough to tell Pikachu what he wanted him to do.

The rodent scurried to the field, but didn't take a battle stance. Instead he stood up on two feet and looked at his opponent. The crowd started to murmur amongst themselves, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. After Pikachu was on the field, the referee looked over at Alakazam, hesitant to allow for him to battle, but waved the flags anyways.

Not taking a second to idly stand by, Damian ordered his Pokémon to use a psychic attack. The Pokémon sighed, raising up his spoons as they began to glow in a light blue aura. As he prepared to unleash the attack, he looked down the battlefield at Pikachu, whom to his surprise stood motionless, just staring back at him. The electric type's cheeks weren't sparking, his tail remained waging low, even his ears weren't completely perked up. The sight took Alakazam by surprise, causing him to stop channeling his attack.

"Alakazam, what are you doing?! Attack the rat already!" Damian's words were like daggers in his ears. He hated having him as a master, but at the same time he felt compelled to obey him, as he was his trainer.

"Alakazam." Ash spoke, catching the Pokémon's attention. "You don't have to do this. I can tell you're not happy with Damian. Why don't you come join us?" The Pokémon's eyes went wide, not expecting to hear such a tempting offer. The way he'd seen Ash get along with his Pokémon was like looking into a dream of how he wished him and Damian could be. Caring, loving, a friend first and a trainer second.

The people in the stands started to scratch their heads in confusion, trying to figure out what was going on. They expected to see a battle, not see two Pokémon stare at each other. Damian especially began to grow quite frustrated with this, but most of all, he was absolutely infuriated that Ash had made an offer to _his own_ Pokémon to join him.

"Alakazam! Quit listening to him and just destroy that Pikachu already!" Snapping back into his old habits, the psychic type raised his spoons once again, taking aim at Pikachu for the powerful attack. Yet still, his 'opponent' remained standing idly, smiling at him. Confused and torn, Alakazam threw down his spoons and covered his face with his hands.

"What's going on?" May nudged Misty's shoulder while continuing to look down at the battlefield.

"I think… I think Ash is trying to convince Alakazam to join him and Pikachu, and he's debating over what to do. He doesn't know if he should join Ash so he can be happy, or stay loyal to Damian and continue battling."

"Alakazam! If you don't start battling, I'm going to…." Damian swallowed his words, not wanting to say or do anything that could get him in trouble with the league.

The psychic type glared at his master. He knew what Damian was going to say, and he knew he'd follow up on it as well. That was all he needed for him to make his decision. Alakazam reached down and picked up his two spoons before walking off of the field. Not towards Ash though, but towards the exit of the arena. He just couldn't face the idea of leaving one trainer for another, not so suddenly at least. What he could do though, was know when to just say 'no'.

Damian's eyes lit up like fire as he watched his Pokémon walk away from him. He could feel the audience's judgmental eyes glaring into him. They could tell what had just happened, and they hated him for it. Fortunately for Damian, he wasn't there to become popular.

XXXXXXXXXX

Giovanni sipped his scotch as he watched the battle on the television in the dark office of his mansion. "I told him if he pushed them too far, they'd shun him." He sighed as he put the glass down, letting his butler take it away.

"Is this concerning, sir?" The butler asked as he picked up the glass.

"Not at all." He said flatly. "The Pokémon he has left are absolute monsters, and they will blindly follow any order he gives them. Especially Typhlosion."

"Ah." The butler replied. "Was the Typhlosion specially trained?"

The crime lord shook his head. "No. He was Damian's starter, and he's just as monstrous as his trainer is."

"Oh my." The butler's eyes slightly widened, remembering all of the vicious battles he'd seen it take part in. "It didn't receive any training from Team Rocket at all?"

"None." Giovanni said coldly. "It was born a monster. He just so happened to be raised by one as well."

XXXXXXXXXX

Damian clenched his fists, digging his nails into the palm of his hand. The number advantage he had was gone now, with both him and Ash only having three Pokémon left. He grumbled as he reached for his next Poké Ball, grasping it tightly in his grip.

Ash did the same, calling Pikachu back from the field, and pulling one of the red and white spheres from his belt. He wasn't quite sure what Damian was going to pull out next, but he had to keep Pikachu fresh for whatever Typhlosion could bring to the table.

Both trainers eyed each other across the field. Damian's cold stare sank into Ash, leaving an icy and ominous feeling coursing through his body. Now wasn't the time to fall for his mind games though. The young trainer quickly shook his head, shrugging it off, and tossed his Poké Ball onto the field just as Damian did the same.

The two orbs opened up, revealing two red arcs of light that began to take shape into Pokémon. The one on Ash's side began to form into that of a large bird, flapping in place above the ground. Once Pidgeot was released from his Poké Ball, he let out a loud caw as his battle cry. On the other side, a large, bulky figure with mantis-like arms, and rocky skin took to the field. Once free, Armaldo brandished his claws, letting them shimmer under the stadium lights, which had just turned on, while he stared daggers into his flying opponent.

Ash's expression began to intensify as he started thinking of a way to beat his opponent. Being a rock and bug type left him somewhat prone to Pidgeot's aerial attacks, but at the same time left Pidgeot completely vulnerable to Armaldo's rock type attacks. It was certainly going to be a battle to behold. A battle of speed and agility, going head to head with sheer power and strength.

"Let the match begin!"

"Pidgeot! aerial ace!" Making a loud caw, the elegant bird zapped across the field. Armaldo may have had a major size and strength advantage on his side, but not a shed of fear entered Pidgeot's mind as he made a b-line towards his opponent.

"Use rock blast to stop him!" The bug and rock type's red and white plates that ran along his elongated neck started to glow as several boulders began to form around him. With his powerful terrakiness, he sent forth each boulder at the bird.

"Dodge em'!" Pidgeot swooped down, dodging the first boulder. The second and third he managed to dodge by making a hard bank to the right. As for the fourth and final boulder, he made a quick accent upwards to avoid the attack, and followed it up by diving down on his opponent.

Pidgeot's glowing wings smashed hard into Armaldo's rock skin, causing him to grunt and groan as he stumbled back. He had underestimated his opponent's power, thinking his attack would simply bounce off of him and the bird would fall to the ground with a broken wing. Though it was impossible to see through the bug's constant blank expression, he actually was somewhat surprised.

"Armaldo," Damian called. "use crush claw to clip his wings!" The bug's mantis claws began to glow a brilliant blue as he leapt into the air with remarkable speed. Pidgeot reared his head, catching a glimpse of the attack in the corner of his eye. Before he could properly react though, both claws hit hard, landing a blow on both wings. Screeching and cawing in pain, Pidgeot crashed towards the ground as Armaldo pushed down on him with the attack.

"Pidgeot, use tailwind to get out of there!" Following Ash's commands, the flying type's tail feathers started to shimmer with a brilliant light, allowing him to zip out from under Armaldo before his huge and powerful frame could crush him with his landing.

A cloud of dust rose around the bug and rock type as his heavy body smashed into the dirt. Above the cloud, Pidgeot remained hovering safely above the monstrous Pokémon. His wings were slightly wounded, but they were nothing more than superficial and weren't anything to worry about.

The crowd's enthusiasm started to return after that brief pause in the 'match' between Alakazam and Pikachu. Fans were roaring, Bill and Mary's commentary was booming, and Misty was standing at her seat, cheering on as loud as she could.

Growing a bit irritated with all the noise, Damian rolled his eyes before giving an order. "Armaldo, use this dust to stir up a sandstorm!" The rock type raised his arms as he used his powers to take control of the dust and dirt around him. With one wave of his arm, a small twister started to form around him as the dirt circulated, engulfing Pidgeot as well.

Ash bit his lip, realizing he was now on the receiving end of an attack he used earlier during the battle between Gabite and Absol. It was hard to see, but from what he could tell, Pidgeot still remained high above his opponent, knowing that if he lowered himself, he'd be wide open for attack.

"Pidgeot!" The trainer shouted. "Use your keeneye to see through the sandstorm!" Through the growing sandstorm, he could hear a caw, though he could only guess where it was coming from. "I can't see what's going on, but I trust that you can! Once you get a lock on him, blow him away with a hurricane!"

Inside of the storm, Pidgeot allowed for a gloss-like substance to cover his eye, protecting him from the dirt and sand getting into his eyes. Down below he could see Armaldo waving his arms like a sadistic composer conducting a symphony of destruction as he directed the waves of flying sand towards Pidgeot.

The bird was quickly knocked back as a blast of dirt smashed into him, but he didn't lose sight of his opponent. Using the strength he had left in his wings, Pidgeot quickly started flapping them as fast and as violently as he could, creating a gust of wind to fight against the sandstorm. On the side of the field, Damian started to narrow his eyes, feeling the faint breeze blow towards him. He could tell something wasn't right, but the storm made it too hard to see.

"Direct every bit of that sandstorm at Pidgeot! Leave nothing but a pile of bones behind!" Using his power over the storm, the rock type directed the rain of sand and grit towards his flying opponent.

As the two forces of wind met with one another, they began to funnel and create a tornado that sucked in all of the dirt, allowing for the trainers and the audience to view the battle of the two forces. Everyone in attendance was struck with awe as they watched Pidgeot flap his wings vigorously, challenging Armaldo's power over dirt and sand.

"Push harder, Armaldo!" His trainer sneered.

"C'mon Pidgeot! You can do it!" Ash cheered. "Give it a hundred and ten percent!" The flying type panted, continuing to flap his wings against the forces Armaldo was using to fight against him. Despite his best efforts though, the twister remained between them, unmoving. Neither one could outmatch the other. Though Pidgeot had an advantage with control of the wind, Armaldo had complete control over the dirt spinning inside of it. "Just push a little harder!" Hearing his master's command, the bird cawed out his name and gave one more big push into the storm he had brewed below.

Armaldo felt the sudden wave hit him, completely unsuspecting of it. The jolt of wind caused him to stumble back only slightly, but just enough to break his full concentration over the sand twister in front of him. With Pidgeot's superior power over the winds, the twister engulfed the bug and rock type, much to Damian's dismay.

"No!" He shouted, taking a hold of his own hair and pulling it in frustration. "You lost concentration, you fool!"

As the twister started to clear, Armaldo remained standing, but only just barely. His body was bruised and beaten, his stance weary. "Now's your chance to finish this, Pidgeot!" Ash cried out. "Steel wing!" A coat of steel covered the bird's wing as he shot down at a forty-five degree angle towards the vulnerable rock type. His wings smashed into his opponent with tremendous force, launching Armaldo off of his feet, and sending him flying back. As his back landed in the dirt, his body skidded across the nearly decimated battlefield. After coming to a halt, Armaldo raised his head slightly only for it to slump back down as he fell into a state of unconsciousness.

"Armaldo is no longer able to battle!" The elderly referee announced. "Pidgeot is the winner!"

Ash let out a sigh of relief. He honestly didn't expect to win that battle. The disadvantages Pidgeot was put in just didn't seem like something he'd have been able to easily escape from. Fortunately, his Pokémon's skills, his training, and just a hint of luck were on his side. Now his concern was to take down whatever Damian planned on throwing out next. Considering his previous Pokémon, it was likely to be something devastating. A Rhyperior? A Salamence? A Tyranitar, perhaps?

All of these thoughts raced through Ash's mind, and as much as he'd hate to do it, he had to let Pidgeot stay in so he could gauge the situation before picking from his other two Pokémon. He knew there was no way for Pidgeot to win another battle, especially considering how exhausted he was from his godly hurricane attack. However he just couldn't risk losing one of his other two Pokémon because he made a bad choice on who to send out.

"Do you think you can stay in there, Pidgeot?"

The bird cawed and nodded, not even hesitating for a second. _What loyalty_. Ash thought. Here his Pokémon was, tired, bruised, and on the brink of falling out of consciousness, and he was still willing to stay in there and fight.

Damian began to frown as he looked at his last two Poké Balls. This battle was proving to be a bit closer than he liked for it to be. Seeing that Ash wasn't withdrawing his Pidgeot though, he chose to use the weaker of the two to fight him.

"Typhlosion, I choose you!"

Ash's eyes went wide as the fire type took to the field. All he could do was wonder why Damian would choose to bring him out _now_. Typhlosion was easily his strongest Pokémon, wasn't it? Second thoughts began to make the trainer question whether his own strategy to lure out Damian's next Pokémon was a wise decision to begin with.

The referee waved for the match to begin, and Damian didn't even wait for a single second to pass before giving his first and only order of the round to Typhlosion. "Flamethrower, now!" A burst of fire scorched across the battlefield, hitting square against Pidgeot's chest. All Ash could do was yell for him to brace himself, knowing that there was no feasible way he could avoid the attack in his current condition.

The entire audience cringed as Pidgeot's loud caws and screeches filled their ears along with the smell of charred feathers. Though many of those in attendance questioned Pidgeot's ultimate wellbeing, Ash could see full well that Pidgeot was still breathing just fine as he laid on the ground after taking the blunt of the attack.

"I'm sorry I let that happen, Pidgeot." The black haired trainer apologized, withdrawing the Pokémon into the safety of his Poké Ball. As he placed it back on his belt, he looked down at his yellow companion, who looked up at him, ready for battle. "Are you sure you can handle this Pikachu?"

"Pika!" He replied, his voice certain and courageous.

"Then go out there and show em' what you've got!"

The little mouse scurried over to the battlefield, his tail perked up and his cheeks sparking. Opposite of him stood his fiery opponent, his collar blazing and his teeth exposed. Pikachu was quite familiar with Typhlosion's speed, and knew good and well it rivaled his own. Not only that though, but Typhlosion had power to boot. It single handedly defeated Tobias' Darkrai, and also brought down a very powerful Garchomp with relative ease. This was going to be a difficult battle indeed.

"Really?" The fair haired trainer snickered. "You send out a rat to fight a beast? Why not just send the Mareep to the slaughter?"

"We'll see about that when Pikachu is standing over your Typhlosion once the battle's over!" He retorted.

Damian huffed. "_If_ your Pikachu's lucky, there might actually be something left for you to bury."

All the things that Damian had said to him up to this point felt like nothing but empty words to Ash. This, however, didn't seem like just an empty threat. This felt like a very possible, and a very real danger. He knew good and well what Typhlosion was capable of, and he knew that he could easily destroy Pikachu if he wasn't careful.

Misty's expression began to fill with worry as she leaned forward in her seat. "Please be careful Ash." She pleaded, knowing that he'd never hear her from down there, but it was all she could do. "Don't let Pikachu get hurt…"

The referee looked over at both Pokémon and their trainers. He took in a deep breath before signaling the start of the match, fearful of what the outcome might be. "Let the battle begin!"

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted. "use your agility to pick up speed before Typhlosion has a chance to attack!"

"Pika!" The mouse replied as he dashed down the battlefield, zigzagging to keep his opponent from getting a clear shot on him.

"Typhlosion, teach that rat a lesson on speed." Damian's voice was cool and collected. Some might even think cold and calculating. His vicious Pokémon let out a roar as he sprinted on all fours towards Pikachu with blazing speed.

Seeing his much larger opponent stampeding towards him, Pikachu made a hard right pivot on his front feet, skidding to a halt and then dashing to the side to keep himself from being trampled by his fiery opponent. As he made a mad dash for safety, Typhlosion followed closely behind him, using his own speed to keep up with him.

Damian's Pokémon shot forth a few small fireballs, much weaker than they could have been due to Mismagius' memento from earlier in the match. Using his strong sense of hearing, Pikachu shifted side to side, avoiding the fireballs as he heard them crashing towards him. The yellow rodent knew he could only run for so long before Typhlosion would finally catch him, and if he caught him, then the match would be over.

"Pikachu!" Ash called. "Throw him off with double team!" Panting and nodding, the electric type began to shift into two, then three, then four apparitions of himself. The apparitions began zigzagging amongst themselves, causing Typhlosion to get mixed up as to which Pikachu was the real Pikachu.

"Just burn them all!" Damian commanded. Taking a deep breath, Typhlosion unleashed a wave of fire as his flame collar brightened and intensified. All four of the Pikachus were engulfed in the inferno, causing Damian to crack a faint grin of satisfaction. Much to his surprise though, as the flames cleared, all four of the Pikachus began to fade away. They had all been fakes.

"Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted. Damian and Typhlosion turned to the trainer to see his Pikachu standing in front of him, his cheeks sparking and lighting up as a huge jolt of electricity arced from him to his opponent. The fully evolved started reared his head back and roared in pain as thousands of volts of electricity scourged through his body, jolting every muscle, bone, and organ in his body.

Once Pikachu had fully discharged the attack, his opponent quickly recovered and retaliated with a flame wheel attack of his own accord. Damian didn't care though, he knew that Typhlosion was more than capable enough of handling himself when he needed to.

"Pikachu, move!" It was too late though, as the spinning ring of fire was far too fast for the electric type to avoid. Bracing himself for the incoming attack, Pikachu felt his entire body become scorched as the wheel hit him hard, sending him flying back.

That wasn't all though, even though the attack had landed successfully, Typhlosion's flame wheel wasn't over just quite yet. Pikachu pulled himself back onto his feet, turning to see his monster of an opponent steamrolling towards him once again as a trail of fire burned in his wake.

"Discharge, Pikachu! It's our only chance!" Heeding his master's advice, Pikachu unleashed all reserved electricity he had gathered from the friction of his paws running along the ground. Just as the wheel was about to collide for a second time, Pikachu gave him everything he had, causing the fire type to once again become filled with a powerful jolt of electricity. The wheel came screeching to a halt, allowing Typhlosion to uncoil before hitting Pikachu.

"Shake it off!" Damian barked. "This Pikachu is making you look life a fool! Blast it with a solar beam so we can be through with this!"

_Uh oh._ Ash thought. He remembered full well that Damian had somehow managed to teach his Typhlosion to use his heat reserves to power his solar beam attack, which meant Pikachu had to get out of the way _now_.

"Pikachu, look out!"

Typhlosion opened his gaping maw and shot a beam of energy at his opponent. Had it not been for Pikachu's incredible speed and his even more incredible reflexes, the attack would have most certainly connected.

"Again!" Damian commanded.

Not even given a second to breath, Pikachu scurried out of the way of the second attack, feeling the searing heat from the attack scorch the tip of his tail. Ash watched on from the side, trying to think of a way he could get his Pokémon back on the offensive, but the rate of fire coming from Typhlosion was just absurd. Damian would order again and again for his Pokémon to unleash solar beam after solar beam, and though Pikachu was always _just_ able to avoid the attacks, he couldn't keep this up forever.

XXXXXXXXXX

In Vermilion City, Lieutenant Surge sat on his couch, glued to the t.v., watching the battle between Pikachu and Typhlosion unfold. He had trouble believing that the kid who beat him all those years ago was now fighting for his chance to win the Master League, but had even more trouble believing that his Pikachu was _running_ instead of standing his ground and fighting.

"C'mon kid!" He shouted into the t.v.. "He's makin' ya look like a baby out dare! Hit em' wit a dundabolt or somethin'!"

XXXXXXXXXXX

Knowing that there wasn't much choice in the matter anymore, Ash had to take the offensive. "Pikachu!" He called. "Use volt tackle!" There was a sudden gleam in his Pokémon's eye, like some sort of switch had been flipped. Pikachu quickly skidded at a one hundred and eighty degree angle, just avoiding yet another solar beam attack, and began charging towards his towering opponent with a huge charge of electricity surrounding him.

"Pika! Pika! Pika! Pika! Pika!" The mouse rushed his opponent, showing no fear as he dodged solar beam after solar beam. Damian began to visibly grow concerned, realizing that his method of raining down on the nimble little Pokémon just wasn't working.

"Stop him with a flamethrower!" Typhlosion took in a deep breath just as Pikachu leapt into the air, aiming to hit his opponent dead in the stomach. As the fire type unleashed his barrage of flames, the electric type became completely engulfed. However, the Pokémon still pushed through the wall of flames with relative ease, much to Damian and Typhlosion's surprise.

"Now, iron tail!" With a faint grin, Pikachu coated his tail in steel as he channeled all of the electricity he had gathered with volt tackle into the little lightning rod he created for himself, and with a flip, smacked his opponent directly in the center of the torso.

"No!" Damian shouted, infuriated that his opponent managed to get the hit in.

The fire type fell back as the force of a volt tackle and an iron tail smashed into him, causing him immense pain, while Pikachu landed gracefully in front of him, a few arcs of electricity still coursing through his small frame.

"How did you get through that flamethrower?!" Damian demanded to know.

"It's simple, really." Ash replied with a smirk. "You kept using your Typhlosion's power to charge those solar beams, that by the time you used his flamethrower, he was all dried up and didn't have any power left."

"You little…" He stopped himself. "Typhlosion, enough games! Get up and finish him!" With no delay between his master's command and his action, the fire type rolled over onto his feet and pulled himself up, much to Ash, Pikachu, and everyone else in attendance's surprise. "I've had enough of you and your little rat!" He hissed. "Finish him with double edge!"

"Pikachu!" Ash called. "Use everything you've got left for another volt tackle!" With a nod, Pikachu took off to meet Typhlosion in the center of the field, who was also charging at full speed.

In the stands, Misty bit down on her fingernails. May kept her eyes covered with a small opening just big enough to peak through, while Drew sat next to her, intently watching the battle ensue below. The champions sat in their seats, quietly awaiting to see whom the victor would be. In Johto, Dawn and her Pokémon watched the battle from the Pokémon Center's television, their hearts racing from the tension. In Pallet Town, Delia, Oak, Brock, Tracy, and even Gary sat on the edge of their seats. Those all around the world were watching. All of them tuning in to see what would happen.

As the two forces met head to head, Pikachu took the blunt of Typhlosion's attack, while Typhlosion received yet another powerful surge of electricity from Pikachu's volt tackle. The energy dispersed from Pikachu's attack caused a blinding white light engulfed the two Pokémon, keeping anyone from seeing whom would be left standing.

As the light began to clear, Damian and Ash removed their arms from in front of their eyes, no longer needing to shield them. What they saw was truly a sight to behold. In the center of the battlefield, both Pikachu and Typhlosion remained lying on the ground, motionless. Both of them had over exerted themselves to the point where neither one could go on battling, rendering both of them unconscious.

"Neither Pikachu nor Typhlosion is able to battle!" The referee announced. "So the round ends in a draw! Both trainers, please send out your final Pokémon."

"How climactic." Cynthia murmured as she took a sip of her drink. "I've got to say, I didn't expect for the match to turn out quite like this."

"The kids got heart." Lance added. "But Damian still has one more Pokémon left."

"If it's stronger than that Typhlosion, then I'd hate to see what its capable of." Steven said as he rested his head on his palm.

"It looks like this is it, Ketchum!" The fair haired trainer laughed. "This is the best battle I've had in a long, long time! It must feel awful to know that you're going to lose though!"

"That's what you think!" Ash snapped, taking hold of his final Poké Ball as Pikachu was carried off of the battlefield by a group of Chanseys. This was it, his last Pokémon. One of the strongest… No… _The _strongest Pokémon he had. "It's all up to you, big guy." He said to the Poké Ball. "Charizard! I choose you!"

The crowd began to cheer as one of their fan favorites had finally made his appearance at The Master League. The fire flying type stretched his wings and let out a roar as he shot out a small burst of flame from his nostrils. He was ready to battle, he was ready to win.

A sly smile crossed Damian's face as he reached for his final Poké Ball. "I don't get to use this one often." He said. "So, are you ready to lose Ketchum?"

"Bring it on, Damian!"

"Gladly." He replied as he tossed the Poké Ball onto the field, freeing his final Pokémon.

The entire audience let out a unanimous gasp at the sight of the Pokémon. As the trainer from Pallet looked up at the monstrosity of a Pokémon that loomed over him and Charizard, thousands of things were running through his mind. _What was it? Where did he get this Pokémon? How did he get this Pokémon?_ But the one phrase that kept going through is head, was the quote from the fairy tale Misty told him back at the Rubyville waterfall.

"_A three headed beast from a far away land."_

* * *

Tune in at midnight (eastern standard time) for the exciting final battle of The Master League.


	39. Final Round Part II: The Beast Unleashed

"Wh…what is that?" Ash looked up at the vicious Pokémon that loomed over him. The creature had a rounded body with six black wings sprouting from its back, and three heads that snarled and hissed as their solid red eyes glared into his.

"Oh my goodness!" Bill nearly stumbled over his words as his voice echoed throughout the stadium. "It's a…." There was a pause as he flipped through a book, finding the name of the Pokémon that hovered above the field. "It's a Hydreigon, from the Unova Region!"

"A Hydreigon?!" The trainer from Pallet quickly began to recall his conversation with Professor Oak before he started his journey, when he mentioned the Pokémon in passing. Ash gulped as he thought of how Charizard could combat this creature. Realizing that he couldn't win a fight against the Pokémon unless he knew at least the basic information about it, he pulled out his Pokédex and scanned the creature.

"Hydreigon," The female voice said. "the brutal Pokémon and evolved form of Zweilous. This dark dragon Pokémon from the Unova Reigon uses its three heads to rip apart its opponents. However, only the center head is sentient."

"A dark dragon type, eh?" Ash murmured to himself as he put the Pokédex away. He bit his lower lip as he came to realize that Charizard's fire would be relatively ineffective against him, and his other moves like earthquake would be completely useless since Hydreigon seemed to constantly levitate a few feet off the ground.

"What's wrong, Ketchum?" Damian cackled. "Are you afraid? Coming to realize that there is no way you can win? That you've come all this way just to lose?"

"Shut up!" Ash's voice cracked slightly. His opponent's mind games were finally starting to get to him. Here he was, down to his final Pokémon, and the only thing standing in his way was a Pokémon he had no experience in fighting, and also had type advantage over him.

"This isn't good…." Misty mumbled, causing May and Drew to look her way. "He doesn't know what to do, and he's too afraid to improvise." The redhead took a deep breath, feeling her heart race as she looked down at the battlefield. The way he looked down at the ground, the sad look in his eyes. The battle hadn't even begun, and he'd already given up….. It absolutely infuriated her. "ASH!" She shouted, causing the rest of the audience to go silent as she shot out of her seat.

"Misty?" The trainer looked to his left and saw a faint, redheaded figure amongst the crowd.

"YOU DIDN'T COME ALL THIS WAY JUST TO WIMP OUT AT THE LAST SECOND!" She screamed, her voice carrying all the way across the huge stadium.

"I…"

"YOU CAN WIN THIS ASH! JUST QUIT ACTING LIKE A CHICKEN AND KICK THIS GUY'S BUTT!"

Ash couldn't help but smile a wide grin as her words rang through his ears. It'd been a while since Misty gave him one of her pep talks, but boy did he need it. Feeling a since of revitalization, Ash turned to Charizard, who was looking at him, waiting for his command.

"Charizard, let's win this!" Ash exclaimed. The fire type replied with a bellowing roar as he turned to face his dragon opponent. They both knew that this could be the hardest battle of their lives, but it was going to be their greatest as well.

Damian stood behind Hydreigon, a scowl spread across his face. "Your girlfriend certainly has a big mouth on her." He sneered. "Maybe after this battle, I can…"

"Shut up, Damian!" The trainer from Pallet snapped, not an ounce of fear in his voice. "I'm here for a Pokémon battle, but if you still want to talk like that after I beat you, then I can kick _your_ butt too!"

For the first time since the battle had started, Damian had no comeback or response. Instead, he just grabbed his trench coat and pulled it off, revealing his black undershirt and his viciously scarred arms. "Alright, kid." He growled as Ash's eyes went wide at the sight of his mangled flesh. "You want a Pokémon battle? You're going to get one hell of a Pokémon battle!"

Seeing that both trainer's were obviously ready, the referee waved down his flags. "Let the final battle of the Master League Tournament begin!"

"Charizard! Wing attack!"

Hydreigon! Dragon rush!"

Both dragons began screaming across the field, grazing each other with their attacks. Both quickly looped around using their incredible speed and swooped down for a second attack, only grazing each other once again. On the third swoop though, both hit each other square. Hydreigon's dragon rush hit Charizard square in the side, while Charizard's wing attack managed to smash directly into Hydreigon's left head.

Once they had both come to a stop in the midst of the collision, the dark dragon tried to clamp down on Charizard's wings with his left and right heads, but was stopped when the fire and flying type grabbed both the heads in a chokehold with his claws. The middle head began to snap wildly at Charizard's face as the Kanto starter held back his opponent just far enough to avoid getting his snout snapped.

"Charizard!" Ash called. "Use seismic toss to get him off of you!"

"Counter it with slam!" Damian retorted.

The fire type tightened his hold on Hydreigon's left and right heads and began to ascend higher into the sky. With a vicious roar and a powerful throw, Charizard attempted to fling his opponent into the ground, but just as he was about to do so, Hydreigon's middle head received just enough leeway to clamp down on his opponent's neck. Charizard bellowed in pain as the dark type's teeth sank into his flesh and used his immense power to hurdle the fire flying type towards the ground.

Charizard crashed into the ground, causing a small tremor, while Hydreigon loomed over him. "Now, dragon pulse!" The dragon opened up its middle head's mouth as a turquoise ball of energy appeared in front him. Charizard pulled himself back onto his feet just in time to see the blast hurdle its way towards him. Fortunately, speed was on Charizard's side, and he was able to quickly fly out of the way of the attack, causing it to crash into the ground and create a small crater.

"Circle him with flamethrower!" Ash commanded. Following his orders, Charizard began to circle strafe around his floating opponent with barrages of fire. Hydreigon screeched in pain as the flame burnt his hard, scaled flesh, but did little more than superficial damage.

"C'mon Ash, you should know that fire attacks aren't going to work!" Damian snickered.

"Now that he's blinded by the fire, swoop in with Dragon tail!"

"What?!" Damian's eyes went wide. "Hydreigon, look out!" His orders were too late, as Charizard had already flew in from behind and his tail was glowing a brilliant blue. Doing a mid-flight flip, Charizard smashed his tail directly into the Hydreigon's back, sending him spiraling towards the ground.

Before he could collide into the dirt though, the dragon type made a quick recovery and caught an updraft to shoot himself up high into the sky once again. Ash was a bit taken back by the quick recovery, especially considering that he was hit directly with a super effective attack.

"Use payback!" His trainer growled. The three headed dragon looped and started flying towards his fire type opponent as a dark purple aura surrounded him. Charizard tried to use his raw strength to hold back the attack, but the dark type proved too powerful and smashed into him, sending him crashing towards the ground once again.

"Oh no!" His trainer exclaimed, watching his Pokémon slam into the dirt once more. "Get up Charizard!" He screamed as the fire type slowly pulled himself back up, shaking off the dust and debris.

The fair haired trainer frowned. He didn't expect for Charizard to withstand the attack. Payback was meant to deal back the damage Hydreigon had just received and then some, yet somehow his opponent still remained standing? Charizard was proving to be much tougher than he had first thought.

"Okay." He murmured. "I'll give it to you, I'm impressed." The trainer paused to crack his knuckles. "Hydreigon, use outrage." A switch flipped in Hydreigon's red eyes. A demented look crossed his face as he swooped down towards Charizard with a bloodlust screech.

The dragon type smashed into the fire type with extreme force, knocking him into the air. Able to quickly recover, Charizard took flight and began to fight back. It was all in vain though, as the dark dragon's immense power was far too much for even Charizard to handle with brute force. Every time he tried to unleash a blast of fire, or take a swing with one of his great wings, his opponent would always either dodge him, or smash into him with full force.

Ash looked up at the aerial battle ensuing high above him. It was quite clear that there was no way Charizard could feasibly beat his opponent like this. He was too furious, too enraged, and too powerful, but he knew there had to be some sort of way to stop him. But how? The trainer thought through all the moves Charizard knew, and all the things he was capable of doing. None of them could match Hydreigon's rage, but he could use Hydreigon's rage to his advantage.

"Charizard, use fire spin!" With a nod, the fire type breathed out a spiral blast of fire at his rampaging enemy, engulfing it in a twister of scorching hot flames. As the dragon type became engulfed in the fire, he began to attack and snap at the flames in fury and anger, thinking them to be an enemy in his blind rage.

"What are you doing? Hydreigon, snap out of it!" Damian shouted.

"Now, follow it up with dragon claw!" Ash exclaimed. Charizard's claws began to glow as he zipped towards the enraged dragon, and slashed both claws across his flesh, making him bellow out in pain and agony with each swipe.

The dragon fell from the sky after the attack, unable to save himself from hitting the ground this time. Charizard quickly landed as well, intending to finish off his opponent. He stomped over to the dazed dragon and grabbed him by his tail, intending to attempt another seismic toss.

"Now!" Damian shouted. Without any warning, all three of Hydreigon's heads came to life and bit Charizard repeatedly with their razor sharp fangs. The fire and flying type let go of his opponent's tail as he succumbed to their vicious series of crunch attacks.

"Charizard, no!" Ash cried out. "You've got to fight back!"

"It's too late for fighting back." Damian sneered. "Rip him apart!" Hydreigon quickly took to the sky, carrying Charizard in his jaws. Unable to fight back, all the fire type could do was just hope he could keep conscious. Once he was high up in the air, the dragon type lifted up Charizard, using all three of his heads, and slammed him into the ground once more, leaving Charizard completely sprawled out on the ground after crashing into the dirt.

"Now finish him with dragon breath!" All three heads took in a deep breath as they took aim at the downed fire type, intending to finish him with the powerful attack. They breathed forth a stream of scorching, deadly, blue flames that danced across the sky as they came to a gruesome collision with Charizard's tired and mangled body.

"No!" Ash screamed as he watched the flames overtake his Pokémon's body. On the other side of the field, he could see Damian laughing maniacally as if he was finding some sort of sick pleasure in bringing this much harm to Ash's Pokémon.

Once the flames cleared, all that was left was Charizard's scorched, bruised, and battered body. The entire audience went silent as they waited to hear the referee call the match, even Ash could feel his heart sink as he looked at his beaten Pokémon. It was really over. He had come all this way, fought so hard, just to lose at the very end.

He had failed. He had failed himself, he had failed his Pokémon, but most of all, he failed Misty. This was his chance to become a Pokémon Master, but he failed that too. All there was left for him to do now was to pack up his things and go to Unova, without Misty, without Brock, without anyone but himself and Pikachu… Some things just never change.

Or do they?

In the heap of scorched, orange flesh that was Charizard's body, Ash could see the faintest bit of movement. He wasn't the only one either. The elderly referee ran over to the sidelines, looking at Charizard as he began to move. Damian's laughter began to cease as he watched with wide eyes as the dragon pulled himself back into his feet.

"Impossible!" He shouted.

Slowly, Charizard shakily pulled himself back onto his feet. Ash's heart began to race and his smile started to widen. The audience was sitting on the edge of their seats. Everyone watching around the world was biting their fingernails, wondering if he could make it back to his feet. With a proud roar and a stream of fire, the fire breathing lizard stomped his foot as he pulled himself back up, ready to continue the battle.

Everyone in attendance erupted with cheer and applause as they witnessed Charizard's incredible act of determination. Even the Champions and the president stood from their seats and began to applaud him. Not only was this a testament to Charizard's strength, but it was a testament to his determination to win for Ash. A testament to the friendship they shared. A testament to the powerful bond that Ash and his Pokémon had. It was a bond of a great trainer, a bond worthy of a Pokémon Master.

"I've had enough of this!" Damian shouted in rage. "Hydreigon, destroy that Charizard!" The dark dragon swooped down once again, intending to rip Charizard into tiny pieces so he couldn't get back up again, but was instead met by a powerful swing from Charizard's tail, smacking all three heads.

"Charizard, you've got this!" Ash cheered. Charizard shot up into the air, smashing into Hydreigon with the blunt of his body, knocking the Pokémon back. He then followed this up with a few slashes across the middle head's face and another smash from his tail, knocking his opponent into the ground.

"Don't disappoint me, Hydreigon!" Damian roared. The dragon type quickly responded by getting back up and tackling his opponent, causing Charizard to fall back to the ground. "Hold him down and finish him off with hyper beam!" With lightning quick speed, the dark dragon flew down and latched onto Charizard's arms, causing him to roar in pain.

Ash gasped at the sight. He knew that Charizard had to get out of his hold if he wanted to win. There was absolutely no way he could withstand a hyper beam attack at this point in the battle. Hydreigon's middle head opened its mouth, and a bright light began to glow inside of his mouth. Charizard tried to struggle out of the hold, but Hydreigon just clamped its mouths down on his arms, causing him to submit to the pain. Just as the dragon was about to unleash the blast to finish him off, Charizard heard a faint voice calling to him, ringing in his ears.

"Charizard, buff him with your wings!" Following his master's command, Charizard flung his wings forward, smashing them into the necks of his opponent's left and right heads, causing them to let go of their grip on him. With his arms free, Charizard pulled his wings back, knocking Hydreigon back as well. The dark dragon's middle head was knocked back during the buff, and caused his hyper beam to shoot straight up into the night sky, completely missing his opponent.

"No! This can't be!" Damian couldn't believe what he was seeing. This was too vital a moment for Hydreigon to miss. It was too vital a moment to let Charizard gain the edge.

"Now that he's weak, use seismic toss!" Ash exclaimed. Charizard took hold of the middle head's neck, facing little to no resistance since his opponent had to recharge after using hyper beam. The fire lizard shot into the sky with great speed and began to loop in the air as the audience cheered him on. On his third loop, Charizard tossed the dragon down to the ground, causing him to impact so hard that he left another crater in the already damaged battlefield. "Now, finish him off!" The fire on the end of Charizard's tail began to grow to an immense size, larger than it had ever grown before. Fire began to poor from his nostrils, and laps of flames fell from his mouth.

"I can't believe it!" Mary shouted over the speakers. "Charizard is using blast burn! We don't get to see attacks like that often!"

With one more vicious, bloodcurdling roar, Charizard unleashed a powerful stream of fire that reached molten temperatures, and it was aimed directly for Hydreigon. Seeing the attack spiraling down towards his Pokémon, Damian ordered for the dragon to use hyper beam again to counter Charizard's blast burn. Though he was able to muster up some energy to fight back against the incredible attack, he was too weak and too tired to bring together enough power, and was completely bathed in the flames.

"Noooooo!" Damian fell to his knees, gripping his hair, his eyes wide and bloodshot. "I was so close!"

As the fires began to dissipate, Hydreigon remained lying on the ground, fainted. Everyone in attendance jumped from their seats and cheered, already knowing who the victor was. The referee didn't even need to double check Damian's Pokémon, as he could already tell who the clear victor was.

"Hydreigon is no longer able to battle! So the winner, and first ever champion of the Master League Tournament, is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!"

The arena began to rain with confetti on the announcement of his victory, covering the decimated battlefield. Ash couldn't believe it, he won. He actually _won_ the Master League. Had the beads of sweat not been enough, he'd have needed to be pinched to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

Several Pokémon League officials stepped onto the field, carrying a huge trophy towards the center of the field as several workers quickly dragged out a podium onto the field. Shortly after the league officials had placed the trophy next to the podium, Damian was finally able to collect himself enough to return Hydreigon to his Poké Ball. He had come so far with the best Pokémon there were, and even so, he still lost. There were a lot of things he needed to think about. However, this was not the place to think about them. Realizing this, he quickly grabbed his coat and stormed out of the arena.

After the podium was up, Mr. Goodshow and the Champions stepped out as well, waving for Ash to come over and join them. The young trainer quickly ran over to the stand, while his Charizard stood next to him.

"Congratulations, Mr. Ketchum!" The President of the Pokémon League said as he took hold of the trophy. "You have beaten some of the best trainers in the world, and for that, you have earned the title of the first ever Master League Champion!"

There was another surge of applause, especially from Misty as Ash took hold of the trophy, and held it victoriously over his head. "Thank you _so_ much! I can't believe this is actually happening!"

"So," Goodshow said, steering the direction of the conversation. "as you know, you have a choice to make. Will you take the collective cash sum of five million dollars? Or a chance to battle one of the Champions of your choosing?"

Ash took a deep breath before stepping up to the microphone. He had been thinking about this for a while, and in a way, he was a bit surprised with the decision he decided upon. "Ever since I was a little kid, I dreamed of becoming a Pokémon Master. I dreamed of becoming the champion and being the very best trainer in the world." He paused for a moment to take a breath. "But a lot of things have changed since then…"

Misty gasped. "Oh no Ash, please don't tell me you're going to do what I think you're doing…"

"Someone really important to me has come back into my life, and sometimes I have to think what is _really _important? What would be the right thing to do? And the right thing to do would be to make that person happy." He took another deep breath. "And I know that they would be happy if I chose to follow my dream. So Lance," He looked over at the red haired champion. "I'm challenging _you_ for the Kanto Championship!"

As the crowd applauded his challenge, and roared when they heard the dragon Champion of Kanto's acceptance of his challenge. As the roaring applause filled the booming stadium, Misty felt a wave of relief course through her body. "Thank you Ash. Thank you."

XXXXXXXXXX

Damian could hear his cell phone ringing as he quickly packed all the things in his cabin. He didn't need to answer it, he already knew who it was. He was done with Team Rocket, he was done with all of it. The fair haired trainer took hold of the phone and contemplated throwing it across the room and shattering it. However, a wave hit him as the thought crossed his mind. There was one other person it could have been, and it if it was them, then perhaps he did want to answer.

"Yeah?" He murmured.

"What the hell happened out there?!" Domino shouted into the phone.

"He beat me."

"I know he beat you! We all saw it!"

"Your Dad is probably going to want me dead now, too."

"No," She said in a tone that almost sounded relieved. "he doesn't. He just wants you to come back to Kanto so we can figure out what to do next."

"What about our plan to get rid of your old man?"

"We'll worry about that later."

"I'm not coming back."

"Please, Damian?" Domino pleaded, clearly desperate. "If you're not coming back for yourself, at least come back for me?"

There was silence on the line. Was she really worth it? Was she really worth going back to face the wrath of Giovanni? After taking a deep breath, he gave her his answer.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash, Misty, and Pikachu sat in the lobby of the Corsola Beach Airport, awaiting for their plane to arrive. It had been a day since he had won the Master League, and what a day it had been. The press, the interviews, the pictures. For the first time in his life, he knew what it was like to _truly_ be a celebrity. He'd probably be even more popular when he arrived at Pallet Town.

Despite all of that though, there was still one thing wandering around his mind. He couldn't help but wonder what happened to Damian's Alakazam. No one had seen him since he stormed out of the arena the night before. It was like he just vanished. Perhaps he teleported somewhere quiet and away from everyone else, and allow himself some time to think. Ash sighed as he questioned rather or not their paths would cross again. Hopefully they would, but he wasn't going to hold his breath.

"You thinking about something?" Misty asked, bringing him out of his pondering state.

"Oh, yeah." He replied. "I was just wondering about Alakazam, that's all."

"I'm sure he'll be fine. Pokémon like that tend to do alright on their own." She said warmly, trying to keep him from getting too worried about it. "So what are we doing when we get back to Pallet Town?"

"We?" Ash raised an eyebrow. "I thought you had to go back to Cerulean City?"

Misty giggled. "Well I just had a talk with my sisters, and since it's almost Christmas time and all, the gym isn't going to be that busy." A warm smile began to spread across Ash's face, as he could clearly see where she was going with this. "So they said it'd be okay if I stayed until New Years!"

"Really!?" Ash exclaimed joyously. "You can stay for Christmas?!"

"Mhmm." She nodded.

"That's awesome!"

Misty couldn't help but smile. Not only was it nice to see Ash so happy, but there wasn't anything to worry about anymore. Ash's battle with Lance wouldn't be until the beginning of March, and they had the entire month of December to spend together. It felt like things were finally starting to lighten up.

"Oh," Misty said as she looked out the window. "I think that's our plane coming in."

The black haired trainer turned to see a small jetliner pull into the terminal. Realizing that it was indeed their flight, Ash and Misty grabbed their bags, while Pikachu rode atop of Ash's head. Once they had found their seats on the plane, all three of them let out a collective sigh of content. It had been a long journey. Memories of all the things they had done and the places they had seen began to flash through their minds. Misty taking Ash clothes shopping after they first arrived, helping out the farmers on Evergreen Planes with their rustler problem, seeing Koga again, sharing their first kiss inside of the Pokémon Center after a wonderful night out, celebrating Ash's birthday on a stuck gondola, and of course all the events of the tournament. It was a great journey. A fantastic one. But now that this journey was over, they could finally do what they had been dying to do ever since their first kiss. Spend some uninterrupted time together.

Unfortunately, all three of them were brought out of their relaxing state as the sound of three individuals in black trench coats, sunglasses, and hats scurried onto the plane. One blue haired, one red haired, and one standing at knee height to the rest of them. Ash, Misty, and Pikachu watched as the three stumbled to the back of the plane, making as much noise as they possibly could, then taking a seat together in the very back of the plane.

"Weirdos." Ash mumbled to himself.

* * *

Alright, so we're done with the Master League! All that's left is for Ash to train up and get ready for his battle with Lance! There isn't much left to this story, but there will be quite a few more events left to unfold. Though they won't be very battle heavy, there will be plenty happening.

I just want to thank all of you for sticking through this far, and man do I hope you enjoy the last chapters of this story (rough estimate 4-5). We're almost through with this story, and after we'll be returning to Team Rocket and their plans in the Part 2 of this story.

Thank you very, very, very much for reading this story, and I hope you've been enjoying it.

Take care, everybody. Hopefully I'll have an update soon.


End file.
